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Real Racing 2 HD wireless, dual-screen gaming with iOS 5 on iPad 2 hands-on (video)
It's just one week after Nintendo unveiled dual-screen gaming on the Wii U at E3, but Apple's iOS 5 beta is already bringing a very similar experience to the living room -- many months before Nintendo's latest console is expected to ship. We installed iOS 5 on an iPad 2 and Apple TV, and took the latest version of Real Racing 2 HD for a test-drive, which enables dual-screen gameplay over AirPlay without the need for Apple's $39 AV adapter. Other games, like Angry Birds, simply mirror the iPad's display (and aspect ratio) on your HDTV, but Real Racing streams 16:9 HD video. For this game (and we imagine many more to come), you use the iPad as the controller -- both while navigating through menus and in race mode -- while the game appears only on your TV (though the tablet does display some vitals, and a map of the track). There's noticeable lag between the iPad and Apple TV when using AirPlay, which may be an issue for games where timing is important, such as Rock Band, but didn't seem to set us back while playing Firemint's racing game. Overall, AirPlay offered a seamless gaming experience without a single hiccup -- surprising, considering iOS 5 just hit beta last week. It's difficult to do this hands-on justice without a video demo, so jump past the break for an exclusive look at wireless, dual-screen gaming on the iPad and Apple TV.
Real Racing 2 HD update might just make you get an AV adapter for your iPad 2
Apple's demonstrations may not have exactly made its Digital AV Adapter seem like a must-have accessory for the iPad 2, but the folks from Firemint may well change your mind with their upcoming update for Real Racing 2 HD. Not only will it let you output full 1080p video instead of just mirroring the iPad 2's display (and aspect ratio) on your TV, but it will even let you use your iPad 2 as a secondary display -- in this case, to display a map of the track. Unfortunately, there's no word on a release date for the update, but you can get a pretty good taste of what's in store in the video above.
Netgear intros EVA9100 media streamer, DGN2200M WiFi / WWAN modem and more at CES
Some crazy stuff is going down in Vegas -- fancy that, right? Netgear is doing its darnedest to make its own scene with the introduction of three new items here at CES, so we won't waste any time in breaking 'em down. Up first is the now-available $249 Digital Entertainer Express (EVA9100), which incorporates the media prowess found in the EVA9150 in order to give users instant access to "Blu-ray quality digital video up to 1080p, MP3s and high-resolution digital photos from PCs, Macs or NAS devices." Portals to YouTube, Flickr and RSS feeds will be readily available, and the free trial of PlayOn will provide access to Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, BBC iPlayer and CBS. Next, we've got the $179.99 DGN2200M wireless router (available in April), which actually pulls double duty as an 802.11n-enabled DSL modem and a WWAN modem. Hailed as the only wireless-N product on the retail market with dual WAN capabilities, this one can get users online via a 3G or 4G USB dongle whenever they leave their home broadband connection. Finally, the $159 Powerline 200 AV+ Adapter (XAV2501) -- which will ship early next month -- enables homeowners to create a 10/100 Ethernet connection from any ordinary electrical outlet that already supports a powerline network. This one's also a HomePlug AV-certified device, so it should have no issues pushing through data at up to 200Mbps. We'll be scouring the show floor for a little hands-on action, so stay tuned! %Gallery-81231%
