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Ravezooka will blow away your friends with sound
Ladies, gentlemen, meet the Ravezooka. This sound bazooka will apparently shoot "hardcore" audio (whatever that means) at varying wavelengths based on how far away your laser-targeted destination is from the sound gun. According to We Make Money Not Art, the trigger controls the auditory distortion effects, which are generated from MIDI data played through a guitar amp. We're a little wary that this is bazooka enough to keep our enemies at bay -- but you can check it out at the NYU ITP Winter Show on the 17th and 18th. Just look for the building downtown with glass blasting out in all directions.[Via Slashgear]
Details emerge on Cingular's NFC plans
We'd previously noticed that Cingular was collaborating with Citigroup on some sort of mobile payment system in New York City, though details were pretty slim for the picking at the time; now the carrier has come out with full disclosure on exactly what it is they have up their sleeves. Like its Atlanta trial last year, the New York program involves Nokia handsets fitted with NFC (near-field communication) guts -- though for the sake of the trial participants, we hope Cingular is offering something a little more up-to-date than the lowly 3220 this time around. Unlike Atlanta, however, Cingular has switched up their financial partner from Chase / Visa to Citi / Mastercard, giving users the ability to use their phone for payment anywhere Mastercard's PayPass system is accepted. Parties involved expect the trial to last a total of three to six months, at which point we should all have a better perspective on how folks feel about shedding cash by tapping their cellphones against various surfaces. Of course, Japan seems to like it just fine -- so why not us?
NY Times says Wii succeeds
The NY Times' Seth Schiesel recently had some very nice comments for Nintendo's Wii console, praising several of the console's titles, such as Wii Sports, Rayman Raving Rabbids, and Madden '07, stating that the fun factor of all these titles, as well as the console itself, is what sets it apart from it's competition."The Wii is about rescuing gaming from the clutches of the hard-core young male demographic that has dominated the industry's thinking for years. It is about making video games accessible again by providing a simple, intuitive, relatively inexpensive entertainment experience that an entire family can actually enjoy together. At that, the Wii succeeds admirably."Schiesel also goes on to comment that however much fun the console is, it just won't work as the primary console for the hardcore gamer. With strong first-party titles behind them like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, Nintendo is undoubtedly seeking that hardcore gamer. What do you guys think? Will the Wii forever be doomed to 'extra console' status and never get itself into the spotlight?
Best Buy Mobile opens up shop in New York
While Best Buy's been selling mobiles (and holding out on Wii hopefuls) for some time now, the big blue retailer is diverting a bit more fundage towards the cause. Aside from continuing to offer phones and plans in typical stores, Best Buy is opening up a smattering of New York-based Mobile stores to handle your cellular needs (and probably hassle you for an extended warranty as well). While details about the store layout and initial offerings are a bit scant at this point, we do know that nine locales will be opening up in the Big Apple alone, with a red (as in, not black) PRODUCT (RED) RAZR being their "exclusive" offering. The stores will partner with Verizon Wireless, Amp'd Mobile, Sprint-Nextel, and Cingular, and should have a plethora of promotional goodies surrounding each and every door to snag your attention.
It's finally here: Nintendo Wii Fanboy Times Square Footage
Sorry for the delay, folks! You know how those Mac users always muck things up, them and their video editing and whatnot.Seriously though, a very special thank you to Doug Keller, who devoted his time and effort for no real reason at all. Rock on, Doug. Expect some sillier clips from the event in the near future, but for now, sit back and enjoy the excellent and oh-so-professional reporting by yours truly. All right, so an Anchorman I'm not.(And yes, Nintendo fanboys seem to have mysterious issues with counting down. It's weird, we know.)
T-minus seven days (Times Square coverage)
While some lucky members of our staff are able to enjoy the Wii as we speak, most of us have to wait. We've been waiting for a long, long time. It's felt like agony at points, some ethereal event that would never really happen. We are seven days away, people, one lousy week. Get ready for the tents, the bitter cold, the local DS multiplayer, and the greasy fast food runs. Get ready for the lines, the excitement, the anticipation and the reward.With that in mind, we'd like to inform you that Nintendo Wii Fanboy will be on location in Times Square, New York for the official global launch party of the Nintendo Wii. We'll be doing live updates from the event (pending hot spot availability) and video coverage as well. If you live within reasonable distance, we encourage you to come ... it's gonna be one hell of a party.
Wii advertisement New York City style
We have seen huge ads in our days but this ad straight pwns. Call it small town syndrome but if the photographer is anything like us, the second we would have rounded the corner on that chilly NYC street to see the most awesome ad evah would have resulted in messed pants. For serious. With the launch of the Wii only 19 days away, it is great to see more and more ads dedicated to the system. The Wii ads are way better than those strange and extremely boring PS3 commercials. Don't you think? [Thanks for the shot Student!]
Joystiq at NYC's Final Fantasy Day festivities
New York City's Times Square was overwhelmed by Final Fantasy fans as Square-Enix premiered the English language version of the upcoming Final Fantasy XII, which will be playable at this week's DigitalLife conference, which starts tomorrow. The trailer, shown to great excitement amongst fans, featured great visuals (as expected) and some truly impressive voice acting. For those of you that have HDTVs, you'll be glad to know that the US version has been enhanced with new anamorphic widescreen (16:9) functionality.Check out a shaky-cam version of the trailer, and some pics from the event after the break.
Sony mylo spotted in stores, online
A kind employee reports that the CompUSA in Clearwater, Florida is stocking the $350 Sony mylo (only in black, apparently), and he's got a set of pics to prove it. The store's SKU spotted in the photographs assures us that these are the real McCoy indeed, and not just some pre-production model. Of course, just because mylos have been sighted in one CompUSA (and on various online retailers, including Amazon and SonyStyle.com) doesn't mean they're necessarily available everywhere yet -- so as always, your mileage may vary. That said, be sure to click through for one more mylo close-up before we send you on your merry way to your local gadgeteria.[Thanks, Dan the Man]
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.
Apple Store openings: Your reports
This weekend saw the openings of three new Apple retail stores. One in Quebec, one in Virginia and another in New York. As usual, we're looking for any reports, photos and/or videos you may have made over the weekend at any of these locations. Let us know what you've got in the comments. Here's hoping you scored a T-shirt.
Nokia E70, N93 semi-officially available in US
Besides opening their second flagship store this side of the pond, Nokia had a couple other tricks up their sleeve in preparation for what has turned out to be an exciting weekend for Nokia fanboys of the American persuasion -- namely, the US releases of the E70 and N93. We can personally attest that E70s have been quietly flying off shelves of the Chicago outpost (see picture above) for the past week or so; Nokia's been unable to keep them in stock, in fact, though we don't know whether the release was supposed to have been synched with New York's grand opening today. At any rate, the model being sold is the US-friendly E70-2 variant that swaps out 3G support in favor of a GSM 850 radio, and features a black face that (in our humblest of opinions) looks better than its European counterpart. Meanwhile, the N93 is the same ol' model Europe gets, lacking 850; caveat emptor for peeps with marginal 1900 coverage. Oddly, these handsets are both still listed as "coming soon" on Nokia USA's website, and rumor has it that they may never officially be released here outside the flagship facilities, so book your flights now, folks -- they say the Midwest and the East Coast are nice this time of year.
WNBC to bring local high-def news to NY, NY
New York is all set to start receiving their local breaking news in HD via the NBC Universal-owned WNBC station on September 13. Start? You would think that the number one market in the country would already of had their local news in HD, but nope, this is going to be the first one in the market. Wouldn't it make sense to produce an example station for other affiliates across the nation to follow? Ah, what do we know anyway? WNBC is going to produce 28 hours a week of news and local programming, including the movie review show Reel Talk and sports show Mike'd Up. So far, the station has only retrofitted the studio and helicopter with the pricey cams, but when more of 'em trickle in over the next few months, programming will follow. Alright New Yorkers, are you ready to see your city's highs and lows like only the local news can portray -- but now it's in high definition.[Thanks, Andy]
New York, Virginia Apple Stores open this weekend
Make way, Quebec, you aren't the the only ones getting an Apple Store this weekend. Apple Store Smith Haven will open in Lake Grove, NY this Saturday, September 9th at 10:00 AM. This store is located at 313 Smith Haven Mall (in the town of Lake Grove) in the Lifestyle Center Wing of the mall. You can find complete travel directions here. Likewise, Apple Store MacArthur Center will open in Norfolk, VA this Saturday at 10:00 AM. This store can be found at MacArthur Center at 300 Monticello Ave, Space #276, on the second floor, next to Harry and David. As usual, the first 1000 visitors to both locations will be rewarded with commemorative t-shirts. Visitors can also enter to win the "Grand Opening Sweepstakes," which will award one winner with an iMac, an iPod nano, a Canon digital camera and camcorder and an HP inkjet printer.If you're going to attend any of these openings, please send us links to your photos and reports! Good luck and have fun.
September 14: the new "it" day?
So, how 'bout that keynote at Leipzig? Wasn't it exciting to hear about the release date for the Wii, and the pricing, and the ponies ... no, no, that didn't happen at all. The hugely anticipated speech revealed none of the details rabid Nintendo fans have been dying to learn. Y'know, the tough questions, like "when's the console being released, and how much will it cost?" We know. Sometimes it's hard to open up. There, there.So now the hearts and minds of Nintendo fans turn toward September 14, when Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime will be on hand at a media event in New York. Forget celebration of video games -- Wii want to celebrate some news.
Helio to open flagship store in Santa Monica
Phone-oriented flagship retail locations seem to be all the rage these days, but who would've thought MVNOs would be getting into the action? MySpace-friendly Helio looks to gain some additional visibility when it opens its first of five dedicated stores in Santa Monica this October. If the renderings hold true, we have to admit the place looks pretty nifty -- just add some hot new devices to match the decor and Helio may have a winner on their hands. Additional facilities will be opening in New York, Denver, San Diego, and Palo Alto through late '06 and early '07. Any love for the midwest, guys?
Cingular lights up 3G in New York City
Cingular Video, anyone? Just a few weeks after having Samsung ZX10s unceremoniously removed from stores, New Yorkers are getting some HSDPA love now that Cingular's network has officially gone live. Yes, that means you can once again get your hands on the UMTS-only ZX10 -- whether you'd want to is another story -- but more importantly, Cingular's 3G PC cards will keep your notebook clipping along at some reasonably healthy speeds, especially if you're used to dealing with EDGE. Coverage is mainly limited to Manhattan and JFK right now, but a rapid expansion is promised through September of this year.[Via The Wireless Report]
DS Lite launch partay!
Engadget's Paul Miller and Ryan Block dropped by Nintendo's official DS Lite U.S. launch party in New York over the weekend. Their write-up features a few dozen photos of the interior of the Nintendo World Store, including the above picture of Ryan being molested hugged by a giant Mario. They also snapped shots of people in the queue playing with their imported DS Lites (oh, the sweet fanboy irony), the first person to officially purchase a DS Lite in the U.S. and a functional Gulf War-damaged Game Boy.Update: Should have been "Lite", not "lite."
Overheard in New York...
Overheard in New York (City) poster, Everclear, caught this snippet of a conversation on the 2 train near Borough Hall:SAT* prepping kid #1: What's 'hydrolysis'? SAT prepping kid #2: Dude, don't you play Grand Theft Auto? Hydrolysis is what makes the cars bump up and down. SAT prepping kid #3: Um ... Hydrolysis is the splitting of things in water. SAT prepping kid #2: Whatever. Same thing.*standardized test[Thanks Lex!]
Incase releases exclusive New York commemorative case line
iLounge is reporting that Incase has pulled out all their case-making stops and introduced a complete lineup of cases for Apple products that commemorate New York and some of its major landmarks. To top things off, these cases are exclusive to the new 24/7 5th Avenue Apple Store that opened last weekend.The lineup consists of white and black cases for the 5G iPod, iPod nano and MacBook Pro. No word yet on whether Incase has been chosen to create the leather case for the giant glass cube that Dave mentioned yesterday.[image via iLounge]
