It’s a known fact that the PS3 is a developer’s nightmare but Sony is hoping that a price cut to all existing dev kits will increase development. The original Reference Tool models DECR-1000A and DECR-1000 received price cuts along with new features to the PS3 Debugging Station. In the US, a new Reference Tool model, DECR-1400A, was introduced for $2000 and will go for €1,700 in Europe and PAL nations. → Read More
I’m not sure if this was supposed to be ironic or if it’s serious, but Borgeaud watches have created something rather interesting. It’s an analog watch that contains the “Rahu complication”. → Read More
Silicon Valley has Y Combinator. Boulder, Colorado (and now Boston) has TechStars. Boston also as of today has Start@Spark. Washington, D.C. has LaunchBox Digital. Philadelphia has DreamIT Ventures. And now Atlanta is joining the seed incubator movement with Shotput Ventures.
Started by a group of Atlanta tech entrepreneurs who want to attract and keep startup talent in the Southeast, Shotput Ventures is accepting applications from young, first-time founders for its summer program. The deadline is April 10. → Read More
Research in Motion has released an update for its BlackBerry Media Sync app this afternoon. The new version adds Windows Media Player support (PC only) to accompany its existing iTunes syncing tool. If you’ve already got Media Sync installed on your BlackBerry, you should have received a notification that an upgrade is available. Otherwise, you can grab Media Sync for free over at blackberry.com/mediasync. → Read More
Sorry about the delay, folks, but you didn’t miss much from Nintendo’s keynote this morning at GDC and we managed to get you the most important news as it was happening anyways. So here’s a quick recap of a few facts that you might find interesting. We’ll have video of a few tasty treats as quickly as the press room’s Wi-Fi lets us upload to YouTube. → Read More
Heads up, people. Nintendo is dropping another Zelda on us, and it looks a bit different than usual. Last I checked, Link didn’t have a pet train to ride around, nor did he even exist in an age capable of supporting steam technology. But hey, I’m willing to roll with it.
Head on through for some video. Got some real grain to it. → Read More
Japan-based beer company Sapporo Breweries Ltd. announced yesterday [JP] that it and Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro (better known as Petrobras) will produce hydrogen gas using nothing but sugar cane and leftover farm products. Production of the biohydrogen is scheduled to begin in September this year. → Read More
The RIAA received some rare “good press” a few months ago when it announced that it would no longer go after individual file sharers. But then, approximately 27 seconds later, we began hating it again when it emerged that, instead of going after individual file shares, it would work with ISPs to weed out file sharers. A distinction without meaning, I say. Anyhow, AT&T is the first big ISP to announce that it’s working with the organization, so now we transfer our angst that-a-way. → Read More
Flying your pets isn’t fun. A few airlines allow small pets on airplanes if they fit under the seat. But most of the time they’re stuck in the cargo hold and come with the rest of the baggage. The one time I flew my dog Laguna she arrived in Seattle shaking and covered in her own feces. Must have been a blast for her.
If you are rich enough you can bring them on your own private jet. Another trick is to have your animal certified as a “service animal,” (you can even do this online) and I hear you can then take them just about anywhere. It’s a loophole that is sure to be plugged once too many people take advantage of it.
Enter Pet Airways, a new startup launching next month that flies pets and only pets: “With Pet Airways your pet will be safe and comfortable, flying in the main cabin, not in cargo. From check-in at our Pet Lounge, and throughout the flight, our Pet Attendants will be caring and catering to all your pet’s needs. You can even monitor how your pet is doing.” Fees start at $150. Sadly, only your pet can fly, not you (they won’t even put you in the cargo area of the plane). → Read More
Hey! We’ve just received word from out team at the Game Developers Convention that WiiWare will now support launching games from SDHC cards. That’s as of the latest update, which is available for download today. And there’s more from the big Nintendo press conference! → Read More
Everyone get ready to pile into the den and gather around the computer table so we can all rock out together. Guitar Hero World Tour is coming to PC and Mac platforms this summer and will feature wireless controllers, online play, “and a Music Studio feature for composing and editing original rock and roll anthems.” → Read More
We reported it last year in July and Toyota is to deliver very soon: The world’s biggest automaker today announced the newest version of their Prius hybrid vehicle, due out in Japan in May, will be equipped with solar panels. Toyota claims the new model will also come with a brawnier and more fuel-efficient engine (the picture shows a model from last year). → Read More
Mark your calendar(s) for June 7, Final Fantasy fans, for that’s when Final Fantasy Advent Children comes out on Blu-ray. So says the eponymously named Blu-ray.com. What “bonus features” can we look forward to? → Read More
Live video on the Web is starting to take off, judging by the massive jump in traffic that Justin.tv is witnessing. According to comScore, the live video site’s global audience saw a massive jump from 9.3 million unique visitors in January to 15 million in February, which is about the same number of people who went to Veoh and nearly twice as many as visited Hulu.com. Of course, Hulu is only available in the U.S., where it is fourth most popular video site, and its videos are watched on other sites as well. In the U.S., ComScore only shows Justin.tv attracting 1.4 million people in February. So most of its audience and growth is global, with particular strength in Spain, Brazil, Germany, and the UK.
Quantcast, which directly measures all three sites, shows a similar trend. Globally, Justin.tv has 22.1 million monthly uniques, compared to 15.8 million for Hulu, and 11.9 million for Veoh. While the U.S. numbers are 3.9 million for Justin.tv, 14 million for Hulu, and 4 million for Veoh. (Ustream.tv seems to be the second-largest live video streaming site with 6.7 million global monthly visitors and 1.4 million in the U.S.). These are all site numbers, Quantcast also measures “network” numbers which presumably includes videos embedded elsewhere, and those are about double the site stats for each service. Justin.tv itself claims 1,800 percent year-over-year growth in unique visitors based on its internal Google Analytics numbers. → Read More
In case you hadn’t heard, Punch-Out!! will be available for the Nintendo Wii in May. It looks like it’ll be a pretty faithful recreation of the NES classic Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! except that it’ll drop the whole “Mike Tyson” thing and will feature new and improved graphics. → Read More
How I missed this, I have no idea. (Actually, I was at SXSW, that’s how I missed it.) Eurogamer, which is always good for a “think piece” or two, is running an exposé on gold farming, a term used to describe the buying and selling of in-game currencies (and items) in games like World of Warcraft. It’s a four-parter, and part two was just published today. Headline there: there are approximately 1 million gold farmers in China alone. Subhead: conservative estimates put the gold farming industry at $2 billion USD. Yes, that’s billion with a “b.” That’s officially insane. → Read More
Was your heating bill through the roof this winter? Now that winter’s almost over, you can either turn down the heat because you won’t need it or lower your heating bills even more by wearing adult footed pajamas, according to a company that sells adult footed pajamas. → Read More
The Tube-Tech is a neat compressor plug-in for those in possession of either ProTools or PowerCore hardware. You can buy it for two weeks starting today for $370. → Read More
