peripherals
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MS Wireless Desktop is just 360's type
SuicideNinja reports that the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 4000 (not the Bluetooth version) connects to the 360 without hassle. I'm not sure if this functionality was added with Spring update or if it always worked. Range is paltry five feet. Still, a wireless keyboard is a nice alternative to pecking out those long, babbling rants..
World's most poorly-designed mouse?
There's at least one manufacturer at Computex this year who's never heard about the concept of not fixing something that ain't broken, as evidenced by the atrociously-designed mouse you see pictured above, which actually repositions the left- and right-click buttons to an almost unreachable spot in order to make room for the same media controls already accessible on-screen, on your keyboard, or from your remote. We're not gonna harsh on this ridiculous product too much, though, for fear of sounding stupid on the off-chance that its initially-questionable design takes off just like the Wii-mote's did.[Via Gadgets Weblog]
Gefen's DVI3000HD KVM extender with six-mile range
A lot of people like/need to do their computing away from the actual computer, and for most applications up to several hundred feet, a regular old wired or wireless KVM extender will do, but if for some reason you'd like to situate your machine up to six-and-a-quarter miles away, only the DVI3000HD from Gefen is up to the task. This new 1,280 x 1,024-capable extender uses single mode fiber optic cables to connect a transmitter situated by your PC to a receiver box located next to your workspace, and sports USB 1.1, DVI, and RS-232C ports for breaking the signal out to your keyboard, mouse, monitor, and/or serial devices. As you might expect, super-long-distance computing like this doesn't come cheap, so both boxes and the included cables -- available now for pre-order -- will set you back a cool two grand.
Citizen readies VIRT Bluetooth watch for release
Ever since we saw Seiko's CPC TR-006 prototype watch with built-in Bluetooth, we've been anxiously waiting for a piece of stylish wristwear that also makes a fuss when we get a phone call, and displays Caller ID info so our smartphone never has to leave its belt holster. Well our long wait will finally be over on July 7th, but in a cruel twist of fate, instead of that not-unfashionable Seiko, the first Bluetooth watch to market will be a rather hideous looking model from Citizen with a tiny screen and gaudy blue buttons marring the face. Besides sporting that disaster of a design, though, the W700 VIRT Bluetooth watch doesn't sound like it's all that uncomfortable to wear, with its sub-two-ounce weight paling in comparison to the those G-Shock shackles some people weigh down their arms with. Plus, you get a pretty decent five-day battery life, SPOT-like charging dock, and best of all-- at least for cellphone addicts -- an optional alert for notifying you if your phone ever travels a potentially-traumatizing distance from your person. Only 5,000 of these pieces will be sold during the initial rollout, but even if they're offered at a very reasonable price (which we highly doubt), sales will probably be limited to only the geekiest most hardcore early-adopters.[Via Wrist Dreams]
Sony Ericsson announces GC86 EDGE PC Card
Sony Ericsson has took off the wraps off its quad-band GC86 EDGE PC Card, which will replace their tri-band GC85 card. The card promises up to 247kpbs when connected to GSM / EDGE networks, although the quad-band capabilities mean it'll be all the easier to fall back on GPRS and stay connected -- no matter how slowly -- no matter where you are. While Sony Ericsson describes the GC86 as an "entry-level solution," they don't provide an actual cost, and as far as a launch date goes, Q3 is as definitive as Sony Ericsson's willing to get for the time being. The card is also both Mac and Windows compatible, assuming you Apple users have a Mac with a PC Card slot, that is (you know who you are).[Via I4U News]
360 rumor roundup: peripheral madness
So our good friends over at Joystiq have apparently buddied up to an "insider" at Xbox manufacturer Microsoft (sorry Bill, it wasn't our idea), plied him/her with some promotional swag and design ideas, and come away with details on all your favorite 360 peripherals, including the highly-anticipated Live Vision cam. Still set to launch on September 19th, the XLV camera will reportedly cost $40.00, and included in that price are a wired headset, the card-game-turned-Live-Arcade-hit UNO, and a free one-month Gold subscription to get you hooked on introduce you to the online service. Joystiq's mole also revealed the following price points for accessories to be released during the "holiday season": $60 for a wireless headset with 30-foot range, another $60 for a 256MB memory module, and $20 each for various game-themed faceplates or a wireless adapter to make 360 gear compatible with your Windows PC. We're still waiting to hear such details as the prices of the wireless racing wheel and HD-DVD add-on, or whether Microsoft will release an un-bundled version of the webcam, so here's to hoping that Joystiq's new friend comes calling again real soon.
XBLV Camera gets a price point, Uno fans screwed?
Joystiq has learned the "unofficial" price point for the Xbox Live Vision Camera: $39.99 bundled with Uno and one month of XBL Gold. It's not clear if those of us who already spent our hard-earned MS Points on Uno will get the opportunity to buy either a less expensive un-bundled version or another camera-enabled game. I'm guessing we're out of luck. The 'stiq also has info on various other "Holiday 2006" peripherals: New faceplates featuring Halo, Forza 2, & Viva Pinata for $19.99 each Wireless headest with a 30-foot range for $59.99 256MB Memory Unit for $59.99 Wireless gaming receiver for $19.99 (but it'll go on sale in Winter 2007, unlike the others, probably around the month of February) The upcoming wireless racing wheel previously reported at $130 isn't on the list, indicating MS is re-evaluating that price.Back to the camera. Is this price point and bundle pretty much what you expected? Furthermore, is $40 a small price to pay for the chance to see how ugly the strangers on your friend's list really are?
Sierra AirCard 875 brings 3.6Mbps HSDPA
We're a bit miffed that this new AirCard from Sierra isn't coming in an ExpressCard form, especially now that good number of the major laptop manufacturers (Dell, Lenovo and Apple to name a few) are sporting ExpressCard slots in their newer models, but HSDPA is HSDPA and we're glad to see it all the same. The device -- a bump to last year's 860 -- supports 3.6Mbps (theoretical) speeds, which is as fast as anybody is doing it right now, and should provide for more than a few WiFi shaming connections to those with the cash and the infrastructure to enjoy it. Along with tri-band HSDPA and UMTS, the 875 can do quad-band EDGE/GPRS, so road warriors beware: you're about to run out of excuses for lost connectivity -- we'd think this one over if we were you. No word on price or initial availability.
Video: Water-proof 360 controllers
Anyone else surprised that Mad Catz hasn't tried to market this idea for $19.95?
Microsoft's Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac
Proving that it still has (some) love for the fiercely-loyal army of Mac enthusiasts (especially the dual-booters), Microsoft has released its first Wireless Laser Desktop for Cupertino-created computers. This new keyboard and mouse set, which features a Comfort Curve ergonomic 'board and high-definition laser mouse, sounds almost identical to the company's Wireless Laser Desktop 6000 (pictured above) which was released last year for Windows machines, except for the addition of Mac-specific modifier and hot keys. Available immediately, this package will set you back $100.
NeoKeys: yet another mobile keypad interface
A lot of companies have come and gone trying to come up with the Next Big Thing in phone keypad layouts, but this one might just take the cake. The NeoKeys concept, brought to us by a company named Yuvee, takes a page from the Optimus wireless keyboard's book by adding a battery-annihilating array of LCDs to the keypad. The idea is to make the keypad's functionality dynamic depending on the phone's mode, including a language-switching character entry pad for multilingual text messaging. Of course, this is all conceptual right now -- no devices or partners have been announced. We'll go ahead and write up NeoKey's obit now so we have it at the ready.
Nokia CK-20W Car Kit promises to bundle talk, tunes, and nav
In what seems to be a brilliant marketing maneuver, Nokia is hyping its new CK-20W Car Kit as the "first integrated hands-free solution to combine high-quality communication, music, navigation and push-to-talk in the car," when all you're really getting is a dash-mounted dock and a remote. According to Nokia, you need to supply your own GPS Bluetooth receiver if you want navigation functionality (they suggest the forthcoming Nokia LD-2 Navigation Pack), although music streaming and hands-free chatting are achievable right out of the box. The kit is compatible with most Nokia phones and even standalone MP3 players if all you want are some tunes, but adding the nav pack requires you to own a S60-powered device to run the Route 66 mapping software. Prices have not been announced yet, but both the car kit and GPS receiver are expected to be available next quarter.[Via Wired Blogs]
Allegiance's USB PC card adapter
We've been waiting around a while for a USB PC card adapter (that wasn't $600), and you don't have to be a MacBook or MacBook Pro user to appreciate this little number -- you'd be surprised how many smaller machines these days come slot-free. Allegiance's notably shoddy looking adapter (shown right) purportedly supports a variety of Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon cards out of box, and for a surprisingly lean cost of $200. Too bad they're back-ordered into June (and too bad the box looks enormous), but hey, now you've got something if you couldn't Bluetooth DUN or tether your way into some wireless access. [Via GottaBeMobile]
ACCELL's $100 UltraAV HDMI 2-1 Audio/Video Switch
With more and more devices being released sporting HDMI outputs (although certainly not all of them), and so many TVs holding steady at just one HDMI input, you're gonna have to shell out some loot for a switcher sooner or later. Most models on the market are dedicated little boxes that cost several hundred dollars, but cable manufacturer ACCELL has just announced a new solution for switching on the cheap, called the UltraAV HDMI 2-1 Audio/Video Switch, that tucks in unobtrusively among your nest of cables. This small wafer of a device simply features two inputs and an output, along with a handy IR repeater on a five-foot cord for toggling between sources from the included wireless remote. TMCnet is reporting that these will begin shipping next month, and for under a hundred bucks (well, only a penny under, but still).[Via TMCnet]
Lenovo showing off waterproof keyboard
Although we thought they'd already solved the problem of keyboard spills with that fancy Batmobile-like armor plating, Lenovo is apparently still looking for ways to keep your 'board safe from dangerous beverages, as they're showing off a waterproof model at their Lenovo Innovation Center in China. Not much is known about the high-tech shenanigans going on inside the keyboard to keep the circuitry running (we suspect nanobots), but it's clear from the pics that you can dump over a cup of water onto it with seemingly no negative effects. So far this doesn't appear to be a technology that the company is commercializing, and frankly it seems like an unnecessary addition to your basic cheap-o plastic keyboard, but we sure wish Logitech et al. would step it up and employ this type of protection in their multi-hundred dollar diNovo Cordless Desktops-like products.
Xbox 360 and HD DVD to drop for under $500?
Assuming the Xbox 360 Core pack price stays the same at around $300 US, that gives Microsoft a $200 window to play with in order to make a next-gen optical capable 360 competitive in price with Sony's Blu-ray toting PlayStation 3. Of course by this November the Xbox's price structure could change drastically, as they have stated many times their intentions to drive down price and cost. What GamesIndustry heard from a UK retail source, however, is that the 360 + HD DVD (which may or may not come bundled together) will still weigh in lighter on the wallet than the PlayStation 3 by a significant margin -- however, that margin is pending British pounds, with the Xbox and HD DVD being £339 ($640 US), and the PS3 at £399 ($750 US). So what isn't immediately taken into account here is the effective price differential in currency conversion between nations; in the US that same PlayStation 3 will debut for $499, about $250 less than it will for our British counterparts, thus making the window for pricing the drive competitively much larger in overseas markets. If you ask us, we'll vote for a US price window of $200 to $250 (depending on the going rate for an Xbox at the time of launch), but any more than that and it'll be a hard sell being that it's really only a movie add-on to gaming platform.
E3: Kentia hall walkthrough
Kind of like the International Gateway at CES, we save this one for dessert. Kentia hall is basically the basement of the South hall, where all the smaller hardware and accessory manufacturers are relegated to since having a floor show presence in one of the main halls costs something roughly equivalent to the GDP of a small nation (and are sometimes similar in size). Kentia is also where all the dope old school arcade games get brought out of retirement, too. Click on to check out all the oddities E3's got to offer.
T-Mobile releases HSDPA PC card in the UK
T-Mobile has just released a PC card for UK subscribers that will allow them to hop on the company's HSDPA network when it goes live, and will also work immediately to access UMTS-speed data services. The purchase of a "web'n'walk" card, which has a quad-band radio for international -- including US -- use, also includes twelve free months of WiFi access at any of T-Mob's UK Hotspots. Customers subscribing to 18 or 24 month data contracts at 17 pounds/month will receive the card for free, but need to keep an eye on their usage, as the fine print states that T-Mobile will warn, and possibly even shut off, customers who download more than 2GB of data in a given billing period.[Via CoolSmartPhone]
Logitech launches steering wheels and G-series inputs
Logitech showed up at E3 with a steering wheel of their own, the G25 system. And let us say, this thing is probably nicer than the wheel on our own automobile -- well, when we still had it. Their $299.99 rig features a leather-wrapped 11-inch wheel with 900° rotation, paddle shifters, dual-motor force feedback, and a very nice external clicky six-speed shifter. This'll be ready to roll in early October, long before the July launches of the force-feedback equipped DriveFX Wheel (shown after the break) for the Xbox 360, which will go for $99, and more entry level G-series devices Logitech's rolling out, such as the G3 laser mouse and G11 keyboard (which is basically the G15 with no display).
Ezurio's low power Bluetooth 2.0 adapter
Let's face it, not nearly enough laptops come equipped with Bluetooth out of box. An increasing amount are offering them as options, but if you were looking for an excuse to get a USB dongle, it may have just arrived in the form of Ezurio's new Bluetooth USB dongle. They're claiming their Class 1 300 meter (about 1,000 feet) Bluetooth 2.0 EDR adapter uses just one ten of the juice of most other adapters. We don't yet know what they're asking for it, but there are probably a couple of older machines 'round here at the old office that could use the old Bluetooth treatment on the cheap.[Via The Inq]
