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NASA's second annual Tether Challenge beset by controversy, yields no winner
Apparently building space elevators in one's spare time is becoming a common hobby for jobless entrepreneurial engineers, as a bevy of eager teams set out to best NASA's "house tether" in order to get their rendition approved for intergalactic use. The contest requires that teams create cabling that weighs under two grams, sports a fiber loop with a circumference of at least two meters, and can withstand more weight (upwards of 1,662 pounds) than NASA's three-gram edition. While last year's shindig ended sans a winning party, NASA quadrupled the prize to $200,000 in order to attract more serious competition, but failed to crown a champion yet again. Three teams were immediately disqualified due to loop circumferences being less than the compulsory two meters, which sparked a "heated debate with contest organizers" about the supposed clarity of the rules. While a plethora of geeky expletives were presumably hurled, NASA only allowed the rule-abiding Astroaraneae team to officially compete -- but the Aerojet employees fell a bit short as their line snapped after withstanding 1,336 pounds of force. While we aren't sure if next year's challenge will offer an even larger purse (or yield an actual winner), we're fairly certain that the rulebook will be exorbitantly straightforward if nothing else.
Sony Australia: Wii "a bit pricey"
"For what it specifically does as a video games machine [it] is a bit pricey." No, this quote isn't from yet another analyst bemoaning the PS3's high price point; it's from Sony Computer Entertainment Australia Managing Director Michael Ephraim, talking about the Wii's AU$400 price point in an interview with a blog associated with Australia's Age newspaper. Ephraim also mentioned that the Xbox 360 "appeals only to a very core group" and, at a little over AU$600, is "still pricey."Ephraim was not asked what he thought about the PlayStation 3's AU$1,000 price point, but I think it's fair to guess the word "pricey" wouldn't be anywhere near his answer. Seriously, when many analysts and consumers consider a high price point to be your system's major weakness, you shouldn't be talking smack about the affordability of the competition.[Via Aussie-Nintendo, thanks Ignatius]
Michael Arrington: "Why The New .Mac Webmail Is Important"
Techcrunch's Michael Arrington has penned an interesting piece on why the upcoming .Mac webmail revamp is so important. Be sure to check it out, but in summary: Michael believes the combination of a killer AJAX-infused webmail service that both allows users to manage multiple accounts and syncs with a desktop client will give Apple a significant advantage and appeal over competing email services. Now, putting aside the fact that Gmail allows you to transparently send and receive email from non-Gmail addresses, I agree with Michael and I'm pretty darn excited about the first .Mac webmail revamp since the stone ages. However, I think he's missing a major point that many others overlook when discussing, praising or damning .Mac: it isn't webmail. Or to be more specific: it isn't just webmail. Michael compares .Mac webmail to competing offerings from Google and Yahoo! - individual and free webmail services that can integrate with other offerings from their respective providers - or not. Google has their news, RSS reader (which just had a killer overhaul, by the way) and countless other sister products, just like Yahoo! has their own tool belt of web services. But the crucial fact here is that .Mac webmail is an unconditional component of a suite of products for which users have to pay a hefty yearly fee. You can't get .Mac webmail by itself, let alone for free, and while everyone is excited about the UI revamp (well, almost everyone), the mounting orchestra of criticism against .Mac still stands. The service overall, especially webmail, is sorely missing fundamental features that competing services have had for years, and our own Dave Caolo nailed one of the most significant on the head in his eulogy for .Mac: server side spam filtering. .Mac doesn't feature it, but it's become a standard (as in: four-wheels-on-a-car standard) with virtually any other service, webmail, POP or otherwise.[Update: A reader named 'random' pointed out that .Mac apparently does feature server-side spam filtering, courtesy of Brightmail, as outlined in this support doc. While this is nice, it doesn't seem to work well (especially compared to the likes of Gmail and Yahoo!), and it doesn't allow users to adjust its sensitivity or peruse server-specified messages as spam in case some legitimate messages are being inaccurately marked. In other words: it's terrible.] Stepping back from fundamentals and specifics, however, I think Michael is placing a little too much hope in this .Mac webmail upgrade. I highly doubt it will rake in the new users, even with the unique abilities Michael hails. At best, I think it will serve as a very welcomed upgrade that could convince a good portion of existing users to go the 'eh, ok fine I'll renew' route for just one more year. Don't get me wrong: as a member myself, I'm welcoming the upgrade and I was planning on renewing in a month before I knew about the webmail refresh. I just don't believe an update to one (admittedly major) part of .Mac will hold that much weight with those who aren't interested in the entire retail package, especially when competing services can stack up pretty well for the general user, and keep $99 their pocket to boot.
Sony, Samsung and Sharp push up 8G LCD production schedules
Whether or not you're actually considering buying one of Sharp, Samsung or Sony's 52-inch 1080p LCDs next year, they're pretty sure you will and as a result are pushing manufacturing schedules up. According to Digitimes, Sony & Samsung's joint manufacturing venture S-LCD is expected to have their eighth generation manufacturing plant ready several months ahead of its original October 2007 launch date. Sharp already has an 8G plant but that's just not good enough, they'll be doubling capacity in March. With heavy price competition among the various "Full HD" LCDs and manufacturing increases, hopefully the 52-inch of 2007 will be the 32-, 37- and 42-inch of this year and last in terms of price drops.
On iPod pricing, competition and the value of a full package
I've noticed a couple reports from analyst firm Gartner Research that claim Apple's pricing on the new iPods betrays an increased interest in profit margins at the expense of market share. These reports focus on the iPod nano's pricing of $199/4GB and $249/8GB as being a bit high, given their estimated materials cost of $90 and $130, respectively. Admittedly, similar players from competitors such as Creative do beat out Apple in pricing; the ZEN V 4GB player is only $159.99 - but what rulebook dictates that a higher price on one particular member of a product family (by and far the most popular member) definitively means the company doesn't care about market share?These reports don't seem to mention anything about the nano's big brother (unless MacNN and Playlist used some sneaky cut and pasting techniques), where Apple is competing quite well: they dropped their 30GB iPod price to match that of Creative's 30GB ZEN Vision:M ($249), and the 60GB ZEN Vision:M (if you can find it on their site), is reportedly $399 - a full $50 more expensive for 20GB of less storage.Gartner's claim that competitors like Creative and Microsoft's new Zune could start chomping at the iPod's market share, based solely on the profit margins of one member of the family, also doesn't seem to take into account the value of the full package that Apple's iPod offers, such as seamless, 'it just works' integration with a leading digital media store (maybe Gatner simply forgot that the existence of Apple's margin-thin digital store leans fairly heavily on the popularity of the iPod). While there are plenty of consumers out there to whom a $40 difference between an iPod nano and a ZEN V can (understandably) make or break a purchase, the are still other important factors consumers can evaluate for a DAP purchase. Unfortunately, some of these elements aren't capable of being factored into an analyst's equations, but Apple is clearly still banking on their weight with a consumer's dollar.
Old Grandma Hardcore is Nintendo's Grandparent of the Year
Who could have anticipated that they'd be sending a 70 year-old ringer into Nintendo's Coolest Grandparent of the Year competition, huh? Barbara St. Hilaire, better known to the gaming community as Old Grandma Hardcore, took the top honors in the contest, held on Grandparents' Day at the Nintendo World Store in New York. Contestants battled in Brain Age, and OGH took home two DS Lites and ten new games after vanquishing the competition. Since she already owns both a Phat and a DS Lite, we wonder if she'll pass the booty on to one or two of her 13 grandchildren. From her blog, OGH certainly seems like the coolest grandparent around, so we approve. In fact, we'd like to steal her to be the official DS Fanboy Grandma, but we're afraid she'd kill every time we break out Mario Kart.
Phill Ryu announces Fake Leopard Screenshot Contest
Its been a big week for Phill Ryu. The shareware developer who only began blogging at the beginning of the month has already been featured on these very pages, as well as Digg and Slashdot. To celebrate his success and stimulate the creativity of the Mac blogosphere, Phill has announced The Fake Leopard Screenshot Contest. The idea is as simple as it sounds; design and present a concept of what you think Leopard will (or should), look like. Three winners will be selected by a panel consisting of some of the top OS X shareware developers along with the staff of MacThemes. The three lucky winners will receive a software library that would otherwise cost over $900 bucks to amass. Each winner will also receive a trophy designed and engraved by Adam Betts of MacThemes, creator of the Adium duck we know and love. Entries are due at noon EST on the 22nd, and the winners will be announced 2 days later.This looks like a lot of fun, and will surely bring some fabulous ideas and designs out of the woodwork. It's great to see the shareware community working together like this on something that is fun for everyone, even those who don't enter.
Audience participation helps manipulate flexible skyscraper
The one thing that even non-architect-types know about skyscrapers is that tall buildings are designed to be slightly flexible, so strong gusts of wind don't send them tumbling to the ground. Well a group of MIT students have used that concept to build their own 800-pound mini-skyscraper which, in an impressive application of performance art, actually allows on-lookers to control the way it shimmies and shakes. Winner of a competition sponsored by the university's Department of Architecture, the 40-foot-tall modular structure sports four pneumatic muscles in each one of its stackable sections, which make it lean and bend into strange and unnatural shapes when multiple audience members operate the bicycle pump- or digital-controls simultaneously. Once the current exhibition is complete, we hope the design team decides to donate the wobbly wonder to their classmates who built that completely automated dorm room, because those guys could definitely turn it into a party accessory that would put those dancing flowers from the 80's to shame.
Having mastered soccer, robots try football
One of the nice things about modern robotic competition is that once the competitors get too skilled at a given sport -- soccer, for instance -- you can simply toss a differently-shaped ball onto the field, and even the greatest RoboRonaldo is instantly knocked down a notch or two. Such is the case with Japan's Robot American Football Tournament, where the soccer ball of RoboCup-style tourneys has been replaced with a classic US pigskin (made out of rubber to liven things up), although NFL-type, turn-based play is eschewed for what usually degrades into a frenzied-but-exciting demolition derby. Teams of four bots each are controlled remotely by high school students during the six-minute games, where the goal is to score more "touchdowns" than one's opponents by shoveling the ball into the end zone. While this concept certainly makes for an entertaining spectacle, we'd like to see organizers from the All Japan Robot Sumo Tournament Office tweak the rules just a bit more, because instead of standing on the sidelines, the student operators should be strapped into huge, hydraulically-powered mecha and forced to use flame-throwers and nail-guns on one another if they want to emerge victorious on the playing field.
All DoCoMo handsets to be GSM-capable within 2 years, sez paper
Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun is reporting that NTT DoCoMo is working to make all of its handsets GSM-compatible in the next two years, which would allow them to work in over 130 countries. Furthermore, DoCoMo's customers would have access to the popular i-mode Internet service in over 70 countries under the new plan, according to company sources quoted by the paper. Reuters reminds us that this move comes at a time when Japan's wireless industry is preparing for increased competition this fall, and may also be a response to the attractive packages Softbank can now offer thanks to their recent purchase of Vodafone Japan.
Competitive Brain Age: Joystiq pwns
At the Nintendo booth, people have been constantly queueing for Brain Age. Calculating by yourself is fun, but it doesn't come close to the competitive thrill of remembering your times tables faster than the next guy.We're proud to say we won our tournament, coming in with the respectable (for day three of E3) time of 28 seconds. Interestingly, the runner-up (with a very close time) was also a girl, with the two guys taking over twice as long to finish -- draw what conclusions you will from that.
Intel stumbles while stepping to Apple's 6 button remote
Honestly: I'm always down for some competition; it keeps (some) companies innovating and (hopefully) on their toes. But wow... if you're going to openly take on a device like Apple's beautiful and simple 6-button Remote, it might be a good idea to make sure you're firing on all cylinders.Check out this video at CNET of Don McDonald, Intel's VP and general manager of their digital home group, demoing a voice-activated remote for Windows Media Center. Mr. McDonald brags that the remote has absolutely no buttons, but forgets to mention it has almost no functionality either. Watch, as he tries not once, not twice, not thrice - but a whopping four times (with some serious lag on his last attempt) to ask the remote "what time is Family Guy on TV." Also, note how much they trust the abilities of their 'zero button remote'... with all the buttons it actually contains.I'd say you and your team earned an A for effort Don, but you might have to whip out those tablet PCs and get back to the drawing board on the voice-activation bit. Just be careful the next time you try using it to dictate your product design notes.[via digg]
Animal Crossing Contest: Giant Miyamoto for the win
When I showed this entry to fellow DS Fanboy blogger David Hinkle, he responded with, "That is the winner. That wins SO HARD." My thoughts exactly. Read all about Miyamoto's monstrous rampage through Tokyo in a full page from the Fanboy Times here."Next time," Miyamoto said, "I'll have to try and control myself when I transform into a 300 foot tall monster."Congratulations, Josh Cox! Your prize will embark on its journey to you shortly. As for the rest of you guys, thank you once again for participating. I'll try and get another giveaway going soon.
Animal Crossing Contest: A guest appearance
That's right. One of the entries for our Animal Crossing contest came from Aaron Griffin--the guy in the photo! This is the hardcore fan that pulled a Bjork, shook Miyamoto's hand and was constantly displayed on the monitors of everyone that entered the contest. Aaron writes:I've been around your site in the past, but somebody alerted me to this contest on my blog. I was flustered for a moment, then I thought "DUH! I should enter!"Check out Aaron's amusing meta-entry by clicking here. [Animated GIF, 2.84MB] Thanks for entering and for being a good sport, Aaron. Next up: The winner.
Animal Crossing contest: Honorable mentions
After trawling through my inbox, examining every image and rolling my eyes at the umpteenth entry that had some sort of Jamaican angle, I've finally picked a winner for DS Fanboy's Animal Crossing contest. In case you're late to the anthropomorphic party, the task was to modify the above image with three simple guidelines: It had to make sense. It had to be funny. It had to not kill me instantly. Apart from those requirements, readers were free to get as creative as their deranged minds allowed. For the most part, you guys did an outstanding job, put a load of effort into your submissions and clearly spent a lot of time thinking up ways in which to take Miyamoto's meeting with a hardcore fan in strange and slightly creepy directions. Isn't it strange how Miyamoto's facial expression is always hilarious no matter what the context?Click through to see some of my favorite, non-winning entries.
Animal Crossing contest: Entries closed
Well, that was fun. The deadline for DS Fanboy's epic Animal Crossing competition has come and gone, meaning any submissions that find their way to me now will swiftly be fed to a ravenous, cyborg goat. Thank you to everyone that participated! Some of you did a truly outstanding job and choosing a winner is very likely to cause to me to mentally unravel and enter a perpetual state of guilt. I wish I had more prizes to give away right now. I'll be posting my favorite entries tomorrow shortly before I post the grand ultimate winner. There will no doubt be disappointment and fury to follow, but thankfully I'm offered some degree of protection from the aforementioned robot goat. He can't tell the difference between cabbage and spleen.
Apocalyptic Auto Assault competition
Are you prepared for an apocalypse? That's the question asked by this promotional site for upcoming car-combat MMO Auto Assault, and like other promotions before it, there's a competition involved. By taking photos or video of your apocalypse prevention methods, you could win copies of the game and 6-month subscriptions.Hopefully there will be a gallery of submissions available later, to demonstrate whether this attempt at viral marketing works or not. It's an interesting premise, but the disaster-prevention-spoof theme might prove too realistic for some people.[Via Broken Toys]
Napster points finger at Microsoft for iTunes market share
Napster's CEO, Chris Gorog, has pointed a finger at Microsoft for the dominance of the iTunes iPod combination in the digital music market. The frustrated CEO is upset with Microsoft's DRM technology and its relationship with hardware manufacturers, commenting on what many feel is the root of iPod competitors' problem: “It’s a lot more complex to get organized properly than it is to build one device and one service as Apple has done." While the debate surrounding whether Apple should license their iTunes DRM or open iPod hardware platform has many layers, there is certainly something to be said with how solid Apple is able to build this platform simply because they manage it from start to finish.Check out the rest of the Reuters article for interviews from both Napster and Real on the state of the digital music market, as well as a humorous prediction from Gorog: "Ultimately, the consumer electronics giants ... are all going to come to this Windows Media party," he said. "This is really going to be the ubiquitous format."[via iLounge]
Channel 4 offer prize for casual games
Aspiring game developers may want to check out this "Game Guru" competition run by UK's Channel 4. With a gaming rig and £1000 available for the winner, now's as good a time as any to dust off those Flash skills.If you're not based in the UK, you can still enter, but unfortunately you'll be ineligible for the prize. Having your talent showcased like this is a great way to get your skills noticed by people who will pay you money, however.[Thanks, Ham]
Dell kills Jukebox players
Looks like Dell is throwing in the towel as far as their hard drive-based Jukebox digital audio players are concerned. DailyTech reports "stiff competition from Apple and others" resulted in the decision to discontinue the line, although they will continue to sell their flash based DJ Ditty player. From what I can tell, the Jukebox has already disappeared from Dell's product site, so it seems it might already be too late to jump on the now extinct players.[via digg]
