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Innocent glasses transform into GPS-equipped routing mechanism... on video!
The Powers That Be may think that they're pulling the wool over our eyes, but we can see the planned fate unfolding in front of us. Before long, our arms will be effectively useless -- after all, once you can game and navigate with just your face, why bother pumping iron and keeping those biceps toned? Over at Wireless Japan 2010, the Nakajima Laboratory at the University of Electro-Communications showcased a prototype that helps explain the latter. Dubbed a Wearable Personal Navigation System, this GPS-infused pair of glasses has integrated LEDs in the frame that wearers can see in their periphery; there's also a magnetic direction sensor, which detects the orientation of the user's head. Once you point your face in a given direction, the LEDs change color to let you know which way you need to head in order to walk, sprint or gallop to your destination. It's hard to tell how long we'll have to wait before we see these on Pearle Vision's Buy 1 Get 1 rack, but the video after the break ain't making it any easier to wait.
Apple acquires web mapping firm Poly9, probably has something up its sleeve
Per usual, it seems as if this deal has happened in the dark of the night, but thankfully for the curious among us, it's a bit difficult to disguise a caravan of humans escaping Québec and fleeing to Cupertino. According to a report in The Sun as well as an independent confirmation on our end, Apple has picked up a small Canadian firm by the name of Poly9. As of now, every last employee has been relocated to California, with the couple who declined left to find other work in the Great White North. Poly9's official website is also blanked out, but in the past, the company has been credited with developing loads of web-based mapping programs (primarily in Flash, crazily enough) as well as APIs for a handful of monolithic clients like Microsoft, Yahoo!, NORAD and MSNBC. Generally speaking, Apple tends to integrate its purchases into the workflow at a rather rapid clip, so we're actually expecting something to come of this in the not-too-distant future. What, exactly, remains to be seen. [Thanks, Anonymous]
Pioneer's Navi Robo waves you in the right direction (video)
Before you dismiss this as just another crazy idea out of Japan, hear us out. The newly developed, crab-simulating Navi Robo is designed to give drivers visual navigating assistance as a supplement to their GPS device. Its primary benefit, aside from helping the hearing impaired, will be in conveying instructions without requiring the driver to focus on it, as its eyes light up for attention and its "claws" vibrate urgently when an upcoming turn is imminent. Frankly, it looks both cute and functional, and we think kudos are in order for both Pioneer and iXs Research for coming up with the idea. They'll be taking their usual good time (read: a couple of years) to refine and develop the idea, but we've got video of the robot doing its thing right now -- you know where to find it.
Spiritual Guidance: Playing catch up with shadow priests
Fox Van Allen steps out of the shadows every Wednesday to take control of Spiritual Guidance, telling you all you need to know to melt faces with expert precision. The era of patch 3.2 held some dark days for a shadow priest. The fights in Trial of the Crusader were definitely not built for shadow priests, especially in heroic mode. We scaled terribly with new gear. Our tier 9 gear was questionably designed. Every class has their own problems, but the problems that besieged shadow priests were bad enough to negatively effect raid performance. It wasn't hard for shadow priests to get left behind. Patch 3.3, though -- this is our time. The changes to the spec have already been detailed: buffs to our glyphs, talents, and haste-affected DoTs gave us a ten-to-twenty percent boost to our damage right off the bat. Our tier 10 gear gives powerful two- and four-piece bonuses. And best yet, the fights in the new Icecrown Citadel five-man dungeons and raids seem as if they were built for us. We add tremendous value to an ICC raid in almost every fight. Actually seeing those fights, though -- that can be a challenge. Patch 3.2 did a lot of damage to the shadow priest class's reputation. An increased emphasis on "gear score" in the game can (unfairly) get an average-geared shadow priest written off. We can't just take playing for granted -- past problems with the spec means there's a higher bar for us. If you got left behind in the last patch or even if you're a newly minted level 80, don't worry -- you can catch up quick. Here's how.
Liveblog: Apple's Q1-2009 conference call
Welcome one and all for TUAW's coverage of Apple's First Quarter 2009 Results Conference Call. If you haven't already, you can go start the audio stream available on Apple's website. You'll need QuickTime 6 or 7 installed (Mac users should already have it, and Windows users get it with the iTunes install). Update: The call has ended. AAPL is up over seven points in after-hours trading. Click on through to view the transcript!
Citi reiterates AAPL 'buy' rating, cuts price target
Citi analyst Richard Gardner repeated the firm's "buy" recommendation for Apple stock, but reduced his estimate through 2011 to "reflect a more conservative view of consumer spending," according to the Associated Press. Gardner reduced his 12-month price target to $132 from $153. He noted "soft" iPhone shipments in the last quarter of 2008 and conservative guidance for the first quarter of 2009 as reasons behind the cut. "We view weakness as a buying opportunity," Gardner said. If Apple's stock were to drop by $7 or $8 before the company's Q1 2009 conference call on January 21, "[Citi] would be aggressive buyers." He expects the company will announce a profit of $1.42 per share for Q4 2008 during the call. AAPL was down by about $1.45 in afternoon trading. [Via Mac Observer.]
Apple's Q1 2009 conference call scheduled for January 21
Mark your calendars: Apple plans to conduct its first-quarter conference call on Wednesday, January 21 at 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific). Apple executives will discuss the company's financial performance over the last quarter, and give their guidance as to how the next quarter is shaping up. Audio from the conference call will be broadcast via QuickTime. When the time comes, you can visit this page and listen in. (Bonus: Check out the old QuickTime Player screenshot in the "Q1-2009" graphic.) In Apple's last conference call, CEO Steve Jobs joined in the fun -- a rarity -- to discuss sales, margins, cash reserves, and Apple's competition. Prepare for plenty of hyperbole and chipper "forward-looking statements" -- as well as dialtone to dialtone coverage from us here at TUAW. Be sure to check back on the 21st. [Via MacDailyNews.]
Apple up 11 after Q4 conference call
Apple shares were higher by over 11 points in after-hours trading following a very positive Q4 conference call where the company announced a profit of $1.26 per diluted share. As we noted in our liveblog earlier, Apple posted a profit of $1.14 billion on revenues of $7.9 billion for the quarter. The company also said it had sold 2.6 million Macs, 11 million iPods, and 6.8 million iPhones in the three months ending September 27. It's safe to say we're past the 10 million mark for iPhone unit sales. Apple's margins for the quarter fell by a tenth of a percent from Q3 to 34.7 percent. During the Q3 conference call, Apple was careful to mention that margins would be lower for the quarter due to a new product announcement. That guidance was out of an abundance of caution, and executives noted that all new product announcements related to that margin guidance have been made. Apple's margins this time a year ago were 1.1 percent lower, at 33.6 percent. Steve Jobs himself was on the call, a rarity, and he crowed about how Apple sold more handsets than RIM did. He also mentioned Apple's significant cash reserves of $25 billion and lack of debt. The conference call made no mention of the exclusion of FireWire on new MacBooks, nor any confirmation that the Mac mini line could either be seeing a refresh or end-of-life.
Munster: Apple overestimated Q3 margin impacts
Gene Munster is skeptical that Apple's guidance of lower margins for the rest of the year in its Q3 conference call back in July, and expects the company to continue to outperform expectations. The Piper Jaffray analyst said that lower prices for NAND flash memory will offset any reductions in price for new iPods introduced last month. Munster speculates that even with an introduction of a sub-$1,000 MacBook before the end of the year, Apple's margins will remain healthy. Yes, it will have an impact, but not to the degree that Apple execs hinted in their phone call: Munster thinks margins would only fall to around 30 percent. In fact, Munster says "investors would see the lack of redesigned, lower-priced Macs as a more significant negative than they would a 30 percent GM guide in the December quarter." (Emphasis mine.) He reiterated his "buy" rating. Munster's price target for AAPL is still higher than many others (at least recently), at $250 per share. [Via Ars and AppleInsider.]
Analyst: THQ has internal problems
Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, after gazing deep into his crystal ball, reports many bad things in THQ's present and future. The biggest issue, Hickey believes, is the publisher's reliance on the recently delayed Saints Row 2. He surmises there is general internal conflict at the publisher, between corporate trying to salvage the company's finances, and developers trying to deliver a quality product. Hickey states THQ's guidance for this fiscal year is too aggressive and dependent on what THQ is calling "proven franchises," but he believes these titles are at risk due to delays, low demand and major marketplace competition.Hickey spends some time comparing Saints Row to Activision's True Crime. He says that Activision once called True Crime a franchise (before it killed it) the same way THQ is touting Saints Row, but he believes a "franchise" has a "predictable level of consumer demand," which Saints Row just doesn't have. However, he believes it'll be THQ's best-performing owned IP this year. Hickey tells investors to just look back at THQs owned IPs for the last couple years and make their own conclusions about how things are going to go down this fiscal year.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 sells 2M worldwide, Ubi raising fiscal guidance
Ubisoft announced today that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has engaged retail with precision and sold two million units worldwide. GameDaily reports that due to RSV2's initial sales and the continued momentum of Assassin's Creed and Games for Everyone, the publisher raised its fiscal guidance and expects net sales of €920 million ($1.54 billion) from €875 million ($1.38 billion). Ubi's CEO, Yves Guillemot, says 2008 is "off to be a record year" for the industry and company.Modest reviews didn't seem to put a damper on RSV2's initial sales with Ubisoft calling them a "better than expected start." If This is Vegas ends up selling exceptionally well -- and boy, could Midway use the sales -- we may see Vegas become the hottest video game setting since Omaha Beach.
GPS guidance could be delivered through audio cues
While we recently saw just how important listening to your DAP could eventually become when trying to shuffle through menus and playlists, a team of researchers at Swansea and Glasgow Universities are hoping to throw GPS into the mix while we're at it. Essentially, DAP / PMP owners would be able to program a destination into their handheld, and if headed in the right direction, music would be delivered in a perfect stereo split. Heading off course, however, would shift the volume to one ear or the other, providing auditory cues of which way to turn in order to get back on track. Moreover, customized POI preferences could be programmed in so that users could be given an "aural nudge" when passing by something that the device knew would pique his / her interest. Hey, we're down with anything that allows us to focus more on our surroundings and less on that pesky display, but this stuff should probably come with some sort of disclaimer before being loosed on the GPS-obeying UK crowd (we kid, we kid -- sort of).
Swedes envision greener navigation routing
We can all agree that having a navigation system at all helps the environment out, since you'll be headed right where you need to go (well, most of the time, anyway) rather than spinning your wheels trying to figure out what's what, but a group of Swedish researchers have envisioned a plan that could actually help drivers cut down on emissions without even requiring them to hop in a hybrid. Instead of sorting your routes by criteria like "shortest distance" or "near food," Eva Ericsson at the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden would rather you follow the path of least resistance, which would channel through the most efficient pathway depending on traffic, time of day, and speed limit. The team has trialed various routes and estimates that its thrifty approach to navigating provides fuel savings of "near four percent," but commercializing the idea has some tall hurdles ahead. A spokesperson for NAVTEQ insinuated that re-mapping the current roadways based on these scenarios is practically infeasible, and the idea only becomes marginally plausible if drivers were to volunteer en masse to use their vehicle as a "probe" device that could track and record data as they drove, slowly covering larger areas. Of course, folks aren't apt to cruise around for hundreds of miles (and burn through multiple tanks of fuel) on a whim, but with the right marketing approach, it's possible to turn an entire fleet of vehicles into one giant guinea pig.
OnStar could go black for millions of analog subscribers in '08
If you just so happened to pick up a 2004 (or earlier) year model GM vehicle will waiting for that oh-so-tempting self-driving edition to land in '08, and can't wait to take full advantage of the svelte built-in OnStar system, you better start now. When analog networks have the option to go silent in 2008, vehicles equipped with analog-only hardware will not be able to communicate with those friendly voices on the other end of the blue button, which could leave some (previously) loyal GM customers seeing red. All vehicles kitted prior to 2002 will unfortunately not sport the same sense of security it once did, while select vehicles from 2002 to 2004 can be upgraded with digital equipment. Verizon Wireless -- the current network of choice for OnStar -- "has not said how or when it will dismantle its analog network," but will likely pull plugs in stages. While the value of OnStar's service is certainly debatable, leaving a substantial amount of your four million customers without a resolution certainly doesn't bode well if you're looking to snag repeat buyers, but we suppose it's the price you pay for keepin' things fresh.[Via Autoblog]
Ubistar unveils video-playing, Linux-based Scencio GPS
With Sanyo busting out a TV tuner-equipped navigation unit, Ubistar apparently felt the need to come out swinging, and its Scencio 4-inch unit certainly packs a punch. Sporting a car-friendly design, 4-inch 480 x 272 touchscreen display, 200MHz Intel Xscale PXA-255 processor, SiRF Star III receiver, and Linux 2.6X running the show, this Korean GPS pulls double-duty as a video viewer when not navigatin' your routes. Touting a very useful video input, you can connect any external video source to the unit, essentially providing a mobile LCD for whenever you bring that trusty gaming console along for the ride. Moreover, the device can playback MP3 files stored on your SD card, but the 0.5-watt speaker isn't likely to retain much fidelity. Oddly enough, Ubistar neglected to add a battery-powered option, requiring you to stay close to a power source to enjoy the multi-function goodness. Although pricing and availability details are unsurprisingly absent, we suspect the Linux-powered Scencio 4-inch will hit the streets of Seoul real soon.[Via NaviGadget]
Keepin' it real fake, part XXXVI: Yuer's V410 mimics TomTom GO
Yeah, there's always the voice-activated navigation systems for those not interested in fiddling with the touchscreen, but China's own Yuer (saywha?) has unveiled a GPS unit that sports voice recording capabilities to vocally note your miscues and adventurous encounters as you maneuver through the rough -- too bad there's already a more legitimate version already on the market. The V410 boasts a strangely familiar 4-inch touchscreen, SiRF Star III receiver, Samsung 400MHz processor, and 64MB of built-in SDRAM. The device also touts rips off MP3 playback functionality, and includes an SD slot and two-watt integrated speaker for pumping out the jams while navigating the Chinese alleyways. The brightly-colored enclosure shouldn't be too hard to find when rummaging through your daypack, and the 5.12- x 4.02- x 3.19-inch frame would also feel right at home on a CMEC dashboard. Unfortunately, we're not exactly sure when the V410 will be providing guidance to anyone, as there's (unsurprisingly) no details concerning price or availability, but we'd suggest just sticking with the original anyway.[Via NaviGadget]
Magellan teams up with AAA for RoadMate RS2.0 GPS
For those of you who can't ever settle on which routes to take, or just favor devices that make the decisions (including your vacation stops), Magellan is busting out a portable RoadMate navigation device with all the AAA-recommended hotspots already laid out. Teaming up with America's best-known roadside aid and "TourBook" creator, Magellan's new RoadMate AAA RS2.0 comes pre-stocked with AAA rated hotels, restaurants, and attractions as a part of the built-in goodies available only in this special edition unit. The device touts a small 5- x 4- x 1.5-inch enclosure, 3.5-inch touchscreen, "QuickSpell" technology, multi-point routing, and JPEG / MP3 support. AAA Mid-Atlantic, California State Automobile Association, AAA Western / Central New York, and AAA Auto Club South will be offering the lightweight GPS to its club members online and in their respective offices soon for an undisclosed (but probably discounted) price.[Via MobileWhack]
