Nissan looking to lighten the Cube for U.S. consumption
Streamlining a box is a difficult proposition, but with Nissan's diminutive little Cube, boxy is the point. On the Cube's home turf, trundling about with a 1.5-liter, 88-horsey miserbox in Japan's crowded city centers is par for the course. But giving it the block rockin' beats necessary to keep up on American interstates (much less German Autobahns) is proving difficult for the automaker.
Nissan hopes to keep an updated version of the aforementioned four-cylinder underhood, which means that serious aerodynamic and weight savings will need to be realized in order to deliver acceptable performance. The issue of excess poundage will likely be particularly hard to address in the U.S. market, where everything from America's love of power accessories and heft-adding options is legendary, to say nothing of needing to uprate the suspension componentry to cope with vast Yankee potroast potholes.
The Cube is set to be built on a reworked platform it will share with the Micra and Tiida, and it could be more expensive Stateside than in other markets (relative to its positioning elsewhere), likely slotting in between the Versa and Sentra.
Alright thirsty J-RPG'ers, Suntory's official Final Fantasy XII Potion beverage is finally available in Japan as of today! The commercial promises it will replenish valuable hit points lost in battle and--seeing as how FFXII is still a ways off--fighting for Potion might be the only FFXII battle we get for awhile.
Plamsa Pong is only for Windows, is just Pong, and is the dreamy realtime fluid dynamic game capable to liven up the look and gameplay of the classic. There are some little twists on the game as well, including the ability to shoot plasma and shockwaves. Did I mention the plasma isn't just for looks, these fluids affect gameplay too. Another neat trick: sucking up plasma, and hence, the ball, back to your paddle. Plasma Pong is a lot of fun to play, and even more fun to watch. The developer is planning some great stuff for the game though, like cross-platform support, online scoreboards, and multiplayer capabilities.
One of the minor changes in the version 1.2 patch of Battlefield 2 was the appearance of a visible UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) whenever the commander calls one in. Instead of both teams having to "pretend" that the UAV actually existed in the game world, after the update a little plane actually buzzes around in the sky, giving enemy teams the chance to shoot the drone down. One gamer demonstrates the drone's physical presence by landing on top of the thing, sacrificing his $15 million helicopter in the process.
Check out IGN for some fresh screens of Super Monkey Ball Adventure for PSP, which is due out in Europe by the end of the year (still waiting on a release date for the US). The screenshots do a great job of conveying a sense of the wide-open environments and space gamers will get to roll their spherical simian around in.
Motorola and Carphone Warehouse in the UK have launched a limited edition Pink Motorola SLVR L6. The shade is similar to the Verizon pink Razr only perhaps a bit more bubble gum.
WWD has info on the distinctive diamond that is a part of the pens and watches that are being made to celebrate the brand's 100th anniversary. The diamond cut took eight years of research and development to design and has 43 facets. Only stones over half a carat will can be cut into the star shape. Montblanc's Lady profile watch which has a 18K white gold case, mother-of-pearl dial and the Montblanc diamond in the crown will sell for $3,050. A party in New York, in March, to show off the diamond will be hosted by Claire Danes and Lauryn Hill will perform. "Mindfreak" magician Criss Angel will do the honors of presenting the diamond.
If you actually want to select music from another part of your home, without having to either run back to your PC/iPod to do so, KeySpan thinks it has the answer in the form of the TuneView, a remote control with a color LCD display that shows your iTunes or iPod library. The $99 remote works with either a $39 USB adapter to communicate with your PC, or with a $79 dock to connect to your iPod. Of course, you'll still need to hook up a set of speakers, but once you do, you can banish that PC to the home office, and still listen to your music in the living room.
Calmira XP can make Windows 3.1 look like Windows XP. Yes, it's in beta, and no, it doesn't completely work (you know, drag and drop can hang it up, just like real Windows!). And yet it's at version 4.0! But it's still pretty amazing.
A Korean company called JIRIS is hoping to make iris scanning easier with the JPC1000, which the company is billing as the first consumer-level iris scanner. The device snaps onto the top of your PC, webcam-like, and can then be used for a range of authentication functions, including banking transactions (we've never been asked to get our eye scanned by our online bank, but that's what JIRIS is telling us). A future model will include webcam functions, which we assume will make it handy for those video conference calls where you need to have your eyeball scanned to prove that you're not some bot that slipped into the office and assumed your identity.
RHex can scurry ahead of its lumbering big brother BigDog and relay front and rear video up back to their common masters up to 600 meters away. Not only can six-clawed RHex tear it up on all kinds of rough terrain like rock fields, sand, and railroad tracks, manufacturer Boston Dynamics states that its sealed body actually allows it to "swim on the surface or dive underwater". Although clearly aimed at military customers, BD casually suggests that you "drop us an email for information on getting your own RHex."
The MonsterPod is a device that definitely does not work via suction cups, glue, bean bags, or magic(as the website helpfully points out) and sticks to "1,000 of objects and counting." The $30 MonsterPod lets your point-n-shoot seemingly defy gravity thanks to a patent-pending elastic solid known as Viscoelastic Morphing Polymer which forms a temporary bond (anywhere from a minute to an hour) with almost any surface that it comes in contact with after a little pressure is applied.
AOL has opened up their instant messenger service to developers with Open AIM, and you can find all the juicy, code-related details on the AIM developer page. There's another little intro to the program from Justin Uberti, AIM's chief software architect on his blog. This opens the entire Triton app up to developers, who can even write their own IM client if they like. Plug-ins will no doubt be a popular item as well. Unfortunately, this also means apps like Adium and Trillian will not see those features, as you won't be allowed to replicate them on other chat clients who use other protocols.
IOGear MiniView KVM lets Mac mini share with others
The Mac mini is a BYOKDM computer. And, assuming you've got a KDM (or KVM, as these peripherals are known outside of Jobs-land), chances are they're already hooked up to another computer. That's why a good KVM switch ends up being the first peripheral a lot of mini-buyers pick up. The MiniView from IOGear does everything you'd expect a KVM to do, and doubles it. Instead of sharing keyboard, video and mouse (and speakers) among two computers, the MiniView lets you share the peripherals among four boxes, and works with computers running Mac OS X, Windows, Linux and Unix. And for the mini buyer who wants to preserve those clean lines and that compact footprint, the MiniView is designed to fit neatly underneath your mini.
UGO has put together a preview of Mass Effect, BioWare's upcoming sci-fi RPG for the 360.
The first in a trilogy of planned releases, Mass Effect will combine the real-time fighting elements of Jade Empire with the interstellar conflict of KOTOR. Piloting your spaceship will also play a larger role than it did in KOTOR.
BioWare's prowess at cinematic storytelling is well known in licensed properties from the Dungeons & Dragons and Star Wars franchises. However, since Mass Effect is an original property of the Canadian developer, they will dig even deeper into its story elements by providing special downloadable content that furthers the plot and provides a bridge between releases.
For more information on Mass Effect, check out the game's web site here.
Microsoft is prepared to emphasize the mobile part of the UMPC equation with one of its CeBIT presentations. According to Volkswagen, Microsoft will show off a combo GPS/media center in partnership with the German automaker. The system includes a front-seat display that stows in a console, two rear-seat touchscreens, DVD player, GPS and full PC functionality with internet access (presumably over a 3G connection). No pricing or launch date yet.
Zboard have been making gamer-focused keyboards for some time, but the compromise between QWERTY and separate WASD keys has forced some gamers' hands into unusual contortions.
Fortunately, their all-new, all-singing, all-dancing MERC does away with that problem--it features a side WASD pad, with more programmable keys than before as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. No need for separate keysets this time; although the older model is much easier to clean thanks to its hot-swapping keys, we prefer comfortable typing every time.
The Digital Cowboy DCT-DPM1 does something to the effect of duping the mouse cursor at the click of a button, and possibly switch between the two. Hey man, any kind of gimmick will do if "labor effectiveness substantial rise you are not wrong!"
Loc8tor didn't exactly launch at CES, but apparently they're still expecting a March UK launch, then a May US launch thererafter. They've even updated their site with some more info on the Loc8tor and Loc8tor Plus, which they list as being £59.99 ($105 US) and £99.99 ($170 US), and having options for using the regular Mini Homing Tag in the vanilla version, and Panic Homing Tags that alert you when you're out of range of something (like your kid, for example) in the Plus version. Noted to having a 600-foot range.
Shoreditch, London, a place where 20,000 residents of the East London neighborhood will be getting fiber Internet connections at speeds up to 2Gbps. Yes, gigabits, and with it those lucky limies will have access to what we believe is the fastest fiber-to-the-home rollout we've yet seen, which even includes access to IPTV streams of their local CCTV neighborhood watch cameras. No word exactly on when these East Londoners will be getting access or at what price it will be available at.
-Lytir1
