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Rage for iOS frags its way to gyroscope and Game Center support
One of the hottest titles in the App Store right now -- id Software's Rage -- recently got a healthy official update to version 1.11 that adds a handful of big new features to its roster, perfect to add a little replay value just in time as your amazing graphics-induced euphoria wears off. What's new? Well, the biggest new feature might be support for Apple's Game Center, offering achievements and scoreboards. You've also got gyroscope support -- good only if you're using an iPhone 4, of course -- that offers an orientation-controlled aiming mode, and official TV-out support for upsizing your gameplay onto the big screen. There's apparently also a new "museum mode" that lets you stroll through the game world without troublesome baddies trying to attack you for those occasions when you're looking for a more peaceful form of entertainment... not exactly fit for a title named "Rage," really.
Chumby One gets composite video output via marginally difficult mod
The Chumby One, much like the original, is an interesting beast. For all intents and purposes, it's a mod-friendly box that sits on your nightstand and pushes out real-time information that it pulls down from the web. That said, the inbuilt display may be too small to be considered "glanceable" in some scenarios, and if you're ferociously nodding your head up and down in agreement, we've a hack you should probably see. One xobs recently discovered that a composite video output could be added to the Chumby One, enabling it to output its information onto any display with such an input. Granted, the device can only support a single display at a time, but hey, who ever said you could have your cake and eat it too?
Video: SNES runs beautifully on N900, makes out hearts flutter
We've already seen Nokia's Maemo 5-powered N900 pull off some pretty fanciful tricks, but without qualification this is the one most dear to our hearts. Somehow or another, Konttori managed to get his palms around an N900 of his own, and rather than testing out the social networking abilities or battery life, he simply installed an SNES emulator, tweaked it to accept Wiimote controls and even connected it to his TV for a staggeringly authentic gameplay experience. Vicarious living is just a click or two away, so hop on past the break for a video of the action. Oh, and don't mind the baby -- he's not in the corner or anything. [Thanks, Sathish]
Video: SNES runs beautifully on N900, makes our hearts flutter
We've already seen Nokia's Maemo 5-powered N900 pull off some pretty fanciful tricks, but without qualification this is the one most dear to our hearts. Somehow or another, Konttori managed to get his palms around an N900 of his own, and rather than testing out the social networking abilities or battery life, he simply installed an SNES emulator, tweaked it to accept Wiimote controls and even connected it to his TV for a staggeringly authentic gameplay experience. Vicarious living is just a click or two away, so hop on past the break for a video of the action. Oh, and don't mind the baby -- he's not in the corner or anything.[Thanks, Sathish]
Apple's new iPods don't play nice with last-gen video accessories
Now that all the RDF has worn off, a few of the hard facts about Apple's latest are coming to light, and one of the nasties has to do with video output. Apparently the new iPod classic and iPod nano don't get along too well with currently video docks and cables on the market -- that is to say, pretty much not at all. A select few products with the 'spensive Apple authentication chips built-in do allow you to turn on TV out, like Apple's Universal Dock, iPod Hi-Fi (which doesn't have video output anyways) and the $600 Zeppelin from Bowers and Wilkins, but if you've sprung for products such as the Memorex iFlip and Sonic Impact Video-55 in the past, you're out of luck for the time being. It seems logical to us that Apple has the ability to unlock this function for existing docks if it so chooses, but for now you can always drop a fifty on those new component cables from Apple -- and pray for a repeat in the "contrite open letter" department.
Firmware code hints at video output
Sony's software developers seem to include hints at upcoming features months in advance. Skype-like VoIP functionality was discovered months ago ... and that feature is only now being unveiled. By looking at some code stored in firmware 3.50, undertaxxx from MaxConsole has unearthed a small reference to "videoout." Could the PSP finally be getting a way of outputting images to a television? From the looks of this hidden icon, it appears so. It's not like Sony hasn't considered this functionality before ...[Via PlayStation]
Samsung's SGH-E890 candybar ready for touching
We sniffed out Samsung's SGH-E890 through an FCC filing awhile back, but now it's ready to rock (and be touched) in the Singapore market. While Samsung has blessed us with touchscreen offerings before, this candybar-inspired rendition touts tri-band operation, GRPS / EDGE, a 2.3-inch QVGA color screen, 1.3-megapixel camera, video recording / messaging, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, USB, voice recording, speakerphone, and even TV output. It also doubles as a music player, supporting MP3, AAC, and WMA, and includes 54MB of internet memory, a microSD slot, and even PictBridge compatibility. The Li-ion cell will reportedly last through 230 minutes of talk time and "up to 350 hours" in standby mode, and can be snagged now in Singapore for 568SGD ($368) sans contract, or 468SGD ($304) with a two-year plan.
