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Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour personal GPS takes you home, shows you how it got you there
We've seen our fair share of uncomplicated (and under-featured) GPS units, but the Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour throws in just enough tricks to make our inner techno-mountain-man salivate. The D-Tour does away with onboard maps and turn-by-turn directions for five simple waypoints and a digital compass. Lose your way? Just follow the arrow back to the campsite. When you get home, you can dump your hiking data into Bushnell's map application, which will show you exactly where you've been, how far you traveled, and how fast you trekked. Its also a built in digital compass, clock, thermometer, and altimeter. Not too shabby, but a bit steep at $120, considering you'll still need to provide your own maps. Hit the break for a video of the doodad's track recording and mapping software.
Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Nolan Bushnell biopic
A biopic about Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell has been picked up by Paramount Pictures, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star, reports Variety. Although we feel "attached to star" is indicative of DiCaprio taking on the role of Bushnell himself, we guess it's equally likely he could star as Atari co-founder Ted Dabney or a paddle from Pong! Bushnell is also known for founding Chuck E. Cheese. The film, currently titled Atari, will be produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Bushnell: New encryption chip to effectively end PC gaming piracy
As much as we enjoy not paying for things, we here at Joystiq HQ are vehemently opposed to piracy. Partly because we think cheating music, film, and gaming companies out of their hard-earned recompense is a despicable act, but mostly because we don't like equating paltry key-cracking to the visceral thrill of high seas swashbuckling. Apparently, Nolan Bushnell shares our disdain for modern-day "pirates" as well -- in a recent speech to a Wedbush Morgan Securities conference, the Atari founder discussed a new encryption chip which will "absolutely stop piracy of gameplay."The stealth encryption chip known as TPM will appear on the motherboards of many computers currently being produced, according to Bushnell, and will allow game developers to imbue their future titles with completely uncrackable, unsharable activation passwords. We've found that e-pirates are a resourceful lot, so the prolonged effectiveness of this measure is questionable -- still, it could rejuvenate PC gaming in areas of the world where piracy runs rampant. Lord knows the industry could use a booster shot in Tortuga.
XM and Bushnell get busy, create first GPS device with XM Radio and Satellite Weather
Bushnell and XM announced their new waterproof ONIX 400 portable GPS device today. A world's first apparently, to pack real-time XM WX weather data and XM Radio. And listen up sportos, it also delivers an enhanced sports scoreboard with user interface, sports statistics and scores. The device features a 3.5-inch, 320x240 pixel display, 64MB of internal memory, MicroSD card for data and map services, and rechargeable Li-Ion battery. Battery life and pricing was not announced but we can expect the ONIX 400 to hit sometime this summer.
Bushnell unveils trio of handheld / car-based GPS units
Those thinking GPS to stuff the stockings this winter now have option when it comes to picking out the perfect handheld / car navigation system. Bushnell is taking time from crafting those night vision goggles and luxurious binoculars to throw down three forthcoming GPS units. The ONIX 200 ($199.99; pictured after the break) handheld sports a SiRF Star III receiver, 240 x 160 resolution grayscale display, 128MB of SDRAM, 32MB of built-in memory, integrated US / Canadian maps, rugged / waterproof design, and even boasts the nifty ability to "download, display, and georeference satellite photography." The similar ONIX 200 CR sports the same specs and functionality, including a 26-hour battery life on two AA cells, but replaces the monochrome LCD with a 320 x 240 resolution colored version. On the car-based side, the NAV 500 ($599.99) features a 3.5-inch color touchscreen, pre-installed maps of the US and Canada, a SiRF Star III receiver, MP3 player, SD slot, photo viewer, and a "pedestrian mode to calculate walking routes." While the ONIX 200 and NAV 500 units will both be available this month, the colorific ONIX 200 CR should hit shelves by next February.Read - Press releaseRead - Bushnell ONIX 200Read - Bushnell ONIX 200 CRRead - Bushnell NAV 500
Atari founder says PlayStation an accident
Nolan Bushnell , founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, looks to be a new member of the Microsoft Defense Force. In an interview with Red Herring, Bushnell took the time to trash the entire PlayStation brand, not just the PlayStation 3. While we can expect the SDF to come out swinging, Bushnell's comments leave even those of us sitting on the fence with raised eyebrows.Bushnell is absolutely convinced the PS3 will fail ... and not just fail to reach the vaunted nine-digit milestone for the third time, but outright flop. Bushnell told Red Herring that "It would not surprise me if a year from now they'll be struggling to sell 1 million units ... I think in the the number of early adopters you have is actually around 300,000." Furthermore, he goes on to say the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 were merely accidents, reaping rewards not by being the best, but by being in the right place at the right time.The PlayStation did not succeed because Sony had a Field of Dreams moment; it was supported because developers loved how it was easier to develop than the cumbersome Saturn and consumers bought it because the software was far cheaper than the N64. My PlayStation didn't just fall off the shelf and into my shopping cart, I bought it for a reason. While it would take a fanatic to believe the PS3 will sell over 100 million units, thinking the PS3 will only sell one million units by this time next year -- and fail to sell out of the launch units -- is crazy.[Via GameDaily]
UWink: Chuck E. Cheese for adults
G4's Feed blog brings us some pictures and thoughts on uWink, the "media bistro" that opened Monday in Woodland Hills, CA after months of planning. The restaurant/gaming parlor comes from the mind of Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, creator of Pong and, later, the man behind the Chuck E. Cheese chain of arcades/pizza parlors.Alissa Bushnell, Nolan's daughter, says the bistro is geared towards adults and women, with casual games that take two or three minutes to play built in to every table. Buying food and drinks from touch-screen menus earns patrons play time on the games games, from trivia contests to Pong clones.Three more locations are planned for southern California soon, and the company hopes to expand nationwide in the coming months, meaning you mights be Winking pretty soon. Eh? Eh? Thank you, I'll be here all week.
