D6
Latest
Nikon's D6 flagship DSLR camera arrives in April for $6,500
Nikon has officially unveiled its professional D6 DSLR and revealed the price and release date, after first teasing the camera in September. As expected, the emphasis is on speed and autofocus accuracy, though it falls short of its primary rival, Canon's 1DX Mark III, in terms of video.
Nikon's beastly D6 will be its 'most advanced DSLR to date'
Nikon has announced that it's working on its next professional flagship camera, the D6, promising its "most advanced DSLR to date." The company didn't reveal any specs (other than a photo), but it's bound to be a big leap ahead of the nearly four-year-old D5. Since then, sensor and processor technology have advanced drastically, so we can expect to see things like eye tracking on top of insane autofocus and shooting speeds.
DICE+ digital chance cubes rolling out at E3
As far as random number generators go, the traditional die is about as low tech as it gets. Or at least, it was. Gaming startup GIC has taken it upon itself to update the old chance cube by outfitting it with LED backlights, anti-cheat roll detection and Bluetooth connectivity. DICE+, as the shakers of tomorrow are called, will sell for between $30 and $40 when they launch later this year. Although the digital dice promise compatibility with iOS, Android, Symbian, Linux and Windows, GIC has yet to announce what platforms will be available at launch. We'll have to wait for E3 for the details, but the possibilities are intriguing -- hit the break to see the cubes in action. In the meantime, we'll be dreaming of Dungeons, Dragons, a digital D20 and Microsoft Surface.
Go see Hecker, Neuse and Blow speak at UC Santa Cruz next week
Between Jonathan Blow, Chris Hecker and Alex Neuse, the University of California Santa Cruz panel being held next week should be chock full of interesting, honest discussion from the trio of all-star indie developers. The group is being gathered to speak for UCSC's "Foundations of Interactive Game Design" class on May 26, though the panel is open to the public. The discussion is being moderated by associate professor Noah Wardrip-Fruin. As for what's being discussed, your guess is as good as ours. Hecker describes it as "an open panel discussion" and notes that his game SpyParty unfortunately won't be on-hand for attendees. Blow separately confirmed to us that he doesn't plan on having his studio's next game, The Witness, at the event either. Bit.Trip series co-developer Alex Neuse didn't get back to us before this post was run, but it stands to reason that his next game, Laserlife, won't make an appearance either. That isn't to say you should miss the talk, which will assuredly be thought provoking. And hey, if you're that worried about getting a chance to play SpyParty, why not sign up for the beta? That worked out pretty well with you and Minecraft, right?
PS3 was on 'life support,' admits Sony CEO
Walt Mossberg managed to pull a mighty fun quote from Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer. During an on-stage interview at D6, Stringer said that the PlayStation 3 "was on life support for awhile," a pretty honest statement from the top executive of a multibillion dollar corporation about one of its flagship products. Of course, that bit of honesty was just a preface to how the PS3 is in good shape now, with special kudos given to Grand Theft Auto IV and upcoming games sure to give the console a boost (Snake, you there?). Somewhat peripheral to gaming, but our favorite line from the writeup is when Stringer "notes that if it had lost the format war, his gravestone would have read "Betamax 2." Video of Sir Stringer's interview after the break.
Panasonic's first 1080p LCD projector, the PT-AE1000
Christmas has come early at CEDIA this year, and even Panasonic is joining the fray with their first 1080p LCD projector, the PT-AE1000. The unit is based on Epson's new 0.7-inch D6 LCD chips, the same thing powering Mitsubishi's new HC5000 unit, and while we don't have an exact price, it doesn't seem like $4k would be a far wrong guess. As for the rest of the specs, the AE1000 has 1100 lumens of brightness, a 2x zoom and lens shift ability. Unfortunately, Christmas hasn't come early for reals, and we'll still have to wait until November for this thing to start shipping.[Via AboutProjectors]
