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Google's mysterious Fuchsia OS looks like an Android re-do
When we last looked at Google's Fuchsia operating system, it was very modest. While it was designed for everything from Internet of Things devices to PCs, there wasn't even a graphical interface to show. Well, things have... evolved. Ars Technica has revisited Fuchsia several months later, and it now touts an interface (nicknamed Armadillo) that makes it clear this isn't just some after-hours experiment. It's only a set of placeholders at the moment, but it gives you a good idea as to what to expect.
Red Dead Redemption's Blackwater and Armadillo recreated in Minecraft
You know, as much as we all may enjoy Red Dead Redemption, it doesn't do a very good job of teaching us what it was like to be a settler back in the day, building our own homes with our own blocky hands and giant, pixelated pick-axes. Some new Minecraft maps may do just that.Red Dead Redemption's Armadillo and Blackwater towns have been recreated in Minecraft and can be downloaded over on fan site Planet Minecraft. You could improve upon the original design, tear it all down or just talk to your computer with an odd-yet-charming old-west accent. Really, it's up to you.
The Rolling Western rolls up genres in an armadillo shell
We're going to do our best to describe what happens in this debut trailer for The Rolling Western, an action/strategy title for the Nintendo 3DS eShop. Let's see -- you play as an armadillo wearing a cowboy hat, who can spin around to attack enemies, explore a 3D world (picking up something called Manju Grass), and even build up towers to defend against giant ... rocks, maybe?
Developer gets Kinect working on Android, rains on Microsoft's WP7 parade (video)
Windows Phone 7 is getting a lot of extensions this year and, while we wouldn't say Kinect interoperability is anywhere near as important as third-party multitasking, it could be fun. Still, we haven't seen proper Kinect interop, the sort that would see you controlling WP7 games with a Kinect -- the sort that is apparently possible on Android. YouTuber HirotakaSter has managed to hook a Kinect up to Android hardware, what looks to be an Armadillo 500 FX development platform, and get everything to play nice. He's using openFrameworks and, while at this point the software isn't doing much other than showing a video stream from the camera, the possibilities from here are quite simply infinite. [Thanks, Muhammad Ali]
Newest Champions Online video is all out of bubblegum
Cryptic is on a roll with these trailers of their MMOs coming out of the New York Comic-con. Where the new Star Trek Online video showed us the power of it's character customization, this new Champions Online trailer gets nice and cinematic while showing off just how far the game's visuals and audio design has come. Also, it's hard not to love an armadillo-themed villain and his massive scaled armor.A few things immediately discernible: Animations are looking exceptionally smooth, while the lighting and graphic effects are all being used in just the right amount -- not too much or too little. Lastly, we dug the short rock tune, which hopefully is a prime example of what to expect from the entire soundtrack.While this is all very wonderful, we've still yet to see straight-up gameplay look this amazing. And really, if this sort of trailer can be whipped up with the in-game engine, we're sure Champions will look great come launch day. You can find the senses-pummeling trailer after the break.
Lunar lander lifts off, then promptly crashes
As the sole contestant in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, Armadillo Aerospace's predictably named Armadillo managed to complete two parts of a NASA challenge to win $350,000 in prize money. However, on attempting the top task -- fly 50 meters up, fly 50 meters sideways, and land -- the Armadillo tripped up, plummeting to the ground and losing the chance to win $1 million. It'll get another chance today, although at least the team won't be rushed by the non-existent competitors. Packing 1,800 pounds of thrust to the vessel's 1,500 pound weight, the Armadillo is guided by GPS and other sensors: one day we could be taking trips to the moon in the distant, distant successor to this little beast.[Via Crave]
