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Earthrise newsletter updates fans on title's progress
The team at Masthead Studios has released another batch of info on the upcoming Earthrise MMO, through their August newsletter. It's become standard for the Masthead newsletters to profile members of the Earthrise team. This time it's Composer Pavel Benov who's featured. He talks about how he drew upon his punk and hardcore roots to create Earthrise's soundtrack, which will be a fusion of experimental ambient and industrial. There are also some highlights of the previous month's coverage of the post-apocalyptic title. But most of the revelations come through their Community Manager, Moll, who touches upon where Earthrise is in terms of beta testing. In addition, 'Issue IV' of the Earthrise newsletter has more concept art from the Eastern Gardens Creatures, showing off the npc spawns that will be devouring players when the game goes into beta, which Moll says will be later this year.
Ambient Baseball ScoreCast keeps you in the game
Sure, you've got a few wireless scoreboard options out there if you're not down with keeping tabs via your PC / handset, but for fans of MLB and fashion alike, Ambient Devices' Baseball ScoreCast really is in a league of its own. As with the firm's Market Maven, this device also relies on the InfoCast Network for updates, meaning that it doesn't require nearby WiFi to function. 'Course, InfoCast can reach "only" 90-percent of the US, but if you're blanketed, all you'll need to provide is four AA cells and input on which team is your favorite. The device receives data updates every half-inning, and if nine just isn't enough, you'll also be kept current with extra inning action. Of course, whether such a unit is worth $124.99 is another matter entirely. %Gallery-12593%
Ex-Palm CEO Carl Yankowski tapped to head Ambient Devices
It's been a while since we've heard from Carl Yankowski, the former CEO of Palm and Reebok -- not that we blame him for lying low these past few years, after guiding Palm through its 2000 spinoff from 3Com to a $30 billion market cap, only to see inventory of devices like the Palm V and IIIe pile up in warehouses and the company fall to less than five percent of its former value a year later. That's a hard act to follow, but it looks like he'll be getting a shot as the new CEO of Ambient Devices, makers of the Orb and other friendly glowing information appliances. Yankowski replaces David Rose, who founded the company in 2001 commercialize tech developed at the MIT Media Lab, and he sounds like he's ready to hand the company over, saying "With Carl leading the team, I am confident that our original vision for ambient information everywhere will become a reality for millions of consumers in the near future." What's interesting is that Carl's Wikipedia entry was last edited in November, and it says he's been running Ambient since August -- perhaps the puppetmaster has finally stepped on stage, eh?[Via News.com]
Ambient Devices updates 5-day Forecaster, unveils 7-day version
While we'd surely balk if Ambient Devices simply added two measly (albeit potentially important) days to its forecaster, the outfit made sure to update the overall look / feel of its weather display for good measure. The revamped devices will reportedly "receive updates from weather sources throughout the day via the Ambient Infocast Network," which currently reaches about 90-percent of US households. The 5-Day Forecaster will sport a four- by four-inch display while the 7-Day Forecaster boasts a six- by six-inch screen, and both units will show "current conditions and an extended multi-day forecast for 150 locations in the United States." Notably, the units will even feature "a color-changing backlight to indicate the current temperature at a glance (i.e. blue for cold, red for warm)," and those springing for the week-long version will be blessed with information about the UV Index, wind speed and direction, pollen alerts and air quality alerts. Look for the new Forecasters to land this winter for $149.99 and $199.99, respectively.[Via SlashGear]
Mind controlled motorized wheelchair demonstrated
You know that the future's here when technology arrives that allows vehicles to be controlled with nothing but a thought. Ambient, in partnership with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, has developed a wheelchair that can be instructed to move when the driver thinks about certain words. The key component is a larynx control system called the Audeo, developed by the founders of Ambient, Michael Callahan and Thomas Coleman. The New Scientist has a video demonstration of the unit, which is surprisingly eerie without the usual subtle twitch of a hand that accompanies regular motorized wheelchairs. The next stage in the project -- externally recognizing individual words imagined in the brain -- is apparently a while off: still, we think a thought controlled anything at this stage in the game is a major feat.
Philips to launch Ambilight successor Aurea
Consumer electronics manufacturer Philips will demo their successor to Ambilight -- the ambient lighting technology that generates light effects on the sides of a television -- at European expo IFA on August 30. The new technology, named Aurea, will be featured using a film by director Wong Kar called Seduction by Light. From early photos, the new sets incorporate the lighting directly into the frame, instead of using the previous method of a glass frame around the set.
Ambient Clock combines Google Calendar and analog timekeeping
Yes, we've seen the projection clock, the pong clock and the venerable atomic clock, but leave it to our pals at Ambient Devices to come up with a way to combine a chronometer with a glanceable display, not unlike their previous orb and analog dial panel. Assuming that you keep your schedule in Google Calendar (and really, who doesn't these days?), you can link it up the Ambient Clock (via Ambient's "nationwide wireless network") to find out what your schedule is. Meaning, a quick glance will help determine when you have scheduled events (the block rectangles on the clock) and the clock itself will change color if you have an upcoming appointment. As of right now the Ambient Clock isn't actually in production, although there is an online beta so you can get a feel for the features and help the engineers decide certain aspects of the build. Still, we're not convinced that this will revolutionize time management, but if you have a penchant for post-modern analog clocks, then maybe you'll appreciate it.
