Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Peripherals

Zeetoo’s Zeemote has actually been around the block a time or two before, but now it looks like this drawing board darling has grown legs. Reportedly, the Boston-area firm has secured some €4.7 million ($6.9 million) in funding from Nauta, Commonwealth Ventures and Egan Capital, which it will likely use to further develop and commercialize a wireless joystick for mobiles that looks (and sounds) strikingly similar to some other peripheral we’ve grown fond of. The Zeemote would purportedly communicate via Bluetooth in order to make gaming slightly more palatable on vanilla handsets, but we can’t say we’re champing at the bit to clutter up our precious pocket space with one of these things anytime soon.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Gaming, Wearables

Details are still fairly light on this one, but the folks at TN Games have just dropped us word that the company is about to expand its line of wearable gaming devices, with its new 3rd Space GFR Vest and HXT Helmet set to make their official debut at CES (if you’re curious, those acronyms refer to G-Force / Racing and “Head and eXTremities,” respectively). The new get-ups will complement the company’s existing 3rd Space gaming vest (pictured at right) which, as we previously reported, was originally developed for medical applications before being re-purposed for gaming. While we’ll have to wait for CES to get the full rundown on the new gear, both the helmet and vest promise to deliver “simultaneous physical impact and sensations directly to player¹s bodies from the virtual gaming environment,” along with a “conveyance of acceleration, deceleration, centrifugal and G-force effects” in the case of the vest. Needless to say, those with weak stomachs will probably want to sit on the sidelines this time around, as we’re guessing these’ll pack a bit more punch than that Aura Interactor vest collecting dust in your closet.

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Guess what babies? All your wildest dreams are about to come true (provided they don’t get too wild). That’s right, according to new PR for Sony’s upcoming CES showing, Skype is apparently coming to the PSP. Details are scarce at the moment (i.e., nonexistent), but the company makes clear mention of a Skype client for the handheld game system on its CES 2008 promo site, which is pretty official — though we’re gonna hold our breath a little till we see a press release. Obviously, we’ll be hearing a lot more about this when the big show kicks off this month, but until then at least we can all sleep a little better at night knowing the PSP is about to get yet another succulent function. Just hit the read link and click on the controller icon, all you need to know is listed in the sidebar.

Update: Thanks to some sleuthing by the crew over at UberGizmo, a perverse and exciting little easter egg has been found in the PSP promo video which accompanies this new info. For literally one frame, Sony all but confirms Skype on the handheld with a nearly-subliminal image that reads “Make calls with Skype.” Check the image after the break and see for yourself.

[Thanks, Jorge H]

Continue reading Skype coming to Sony’s PSP?

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

It’s not that we don’t see the appeal of using a supplementary keyboard and display with our smartphones, rather, we simply felt that the Foleo was way overpriced for the relatively limited functionality it provided. Well now a new company called Celio seems to be heading down the same risky path as Palm, announcing the REDFLY Smartphone Interface System, a platform that allows Windows Mobile 5 and 6 devices to be controlled using external hardware — sounds promising, except that the first piece of gear to incorporate the technology will cost $499, the same targeted MSRP as the failed Foleo (after its planned instant rebate). Celio wisely claims that it’s initially targeting enterprise users with the Bluetooth 2.0, clamshell device, although frankly it seems like they’d have more success concentrating on the software and letting OEMs deal with designing products that offer a more attractive price / performance ratio.

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Filed under: Laptops

There’s not a whole lot to go on here, unfortunately, but according to the folks at 51nb.com, the slim-looking ThinkPad you see above is real, and set to go into production sometime this year. Nothing too unusual there, except that the full versions of the slides (which unfortunately seem to be unavailable as of this writing) are clearly marked “(C) 2006,” which sure is a little longer than most laptops take to make it from the prototype to production stage. Still, 2006 or not, the form factor is certainly nice, as is the supposed LED-backlit 13-inch screen, but we’re inclined to wait for something a little more concrete before getting our hopes up too much.

[Thanks, Alpha]

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Filed under: Laptops

Well, it looks like that Nigerian keyboard patent infringement case against OLPC is underway, and it hasn’t started out too well for Nick Neg and co.: the court has granted LANCOR’s motion for an interim injunction against OLPC, meaning the XO can’t be imported or sold in Nigeria. On top of that, LANCOR is now asking for $20M in damages, and has been searching the offices of OLPC-affiliated organizations in Nigeria for “evidence.” All of this currently going down with zero input from OLPC’s lawyers, but we’re told the organization is preparing an “aggressive” response. Check the read link for an exhaustive summary of the case to date over at Groklaw.

[Via CNet]

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Filed under: Laptops

Well kids, it was bound to happen. With Macworld speeding our direction, and all the exciting, unfounded, and wildly hopeful Apple rumors we’ve been hearing as of late, a doctored (or not doctored) picture was bound to crop up. Well, here you have it — a rendering, real or otherwise, of the supposed (yet not in any way confirmed) ultraportable MacBook we’ve been hearing about. It goes without saying that this image is totally unverifiable and probably fake, especially taking into consideration that the point of origin is the first (and only) post of an unknown contributor to the MacRumors forum. As evidenced by the photo, the thin-as-hell MacBook has no optical drive and sports an extra wide trackpad and button, which makes the whole thing look pretty goofy. We’re not going to let the fact that this prototype user also seems to be reading Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons further shake our confidence — though it’s hard to get below zero. Inspect the picture above and draw your own conclusions.

[Thanks, stem]

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The best way to explain why SSD is a buzz acronym for the solid state drives we want in our notebooks is to show the problems with practically stone-age spinning hard drives inside most computers (and iPod classics). Since they have platters w/ magnetized surfaces that spin fast as they read or write data—think record player—they can be quite slow, and are really fragile. Anyone who’s owned a computer or iPod knows (or will one day learn) that if the read/write head bumps into the platter, it’s all over. SSDs aren’t like that at all.

SSDs have no moving parts, so seek time is drastically reduced. No spinning=less battery vampirage, so your laptop lasts longer too. And finally, the lack of a deadly read-write head means you can drop your SSD-powered lappy with far less chance of weeping. Right now, SSDs are usually made with either SDRAM (like RAM used in computers) or NAND flash (like in thumb drives, iPod nanos, etc.). Flash is more common, since it doesn’t need a battery even though it’s slower. Problems: Gig for gig, SSD is way expensive. The beefiest you’ll be able to get soon is 128GB (or maybe 256GB)—but the current 64GB 2.5″ SSDs go for $1,100 and up. Still got questions?

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Did you fall in love with the Wacom tablet that Jesus showed off? Are you also not rich enough to afford a $4,000 tablet? I feel your pain. But hey, why drop all that coin on a new one when you can turn your Mac laptop into a tablet in a mere 15 minutes for way less money? Walk with me.

By taking an older Wacom tablet, the Wacom Intuos2, and attaching it to an old MacBook, you’ve got yourself a slick little number that’ll let you draw right on the screen. And it doesn’t take all that much work, although if you’re especially lousy with a screwdriver you might still be intimidated by the project. But hey, what would be worse, spending $4,000 on a new tablet or potentially breaking your laptop to create a lower-quality one for cheaper? That’s a good question, actually. I leave the ball in your hands. [Instructables]

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There was an rumor over the weekend about Sprint stopping sales of the LG Rumor due to a firmware erasure problem, so we got in contact with Sprint and got some information to set the record straight. No, Sprint hasn’t stopped sales of the Rumor—the reason why you can’t find it in stores is because it has “exceeded [their] expectations,” and they’re facing inventory problems. There is a small technical error that “impacts a very low percentage of potential customers,” but they assured us that it’s been addressed and has “in no way impacted our inventory issue.”

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