One of the best toys that I had as a child was a radio controlled car. While I had a number of toy R/C cars like you find on the shelf at Wal-Mart, when I was 11 or 12, I received my first 1/10 scale kit R/C truck for Christmas (Joe was actually the one to get me hooked on them).
It was a Traxxas Hawk (that was so long ago that it doesn’t even show up as a “legacy model” on the Traxxas website). As R/C car kits went back then, it was pretty much a piece of crap. Later, I would get an Associated RC10 (buggy) and an RC10T (truck). I put all of my money and all of my Christmas and birthday lists went into R/C cars and trucks for a number of years. As a bonus, I learned quite a bit about algebra, geometry and physics without even realizing it. Ah, those were the days.
These were the memories stirred up when I saw the above RACER demo that Malte Jahmlich over at sputnic.tv put dreamed up. Jahmlich and his pals put together an R/C car system that’s controlled by a video game racing console, and a track that mimics Wipeout. The greatest thing about the concept is that you control the car from a first person perspective thanks to a wireless video camera mounted on the car. It beats the heck out of the dirt tracks Joe and I tried to build for our R/C cars way back when.
Microsoft has just released a new, slimmer Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive and in a shiny black finish. The new Xbox 360 runs $299 and is up for pre-order on Amazon.com. The new console is hailed as a much quieter version as well. It also includes built-in 802.11n, an HDMI input, and 3 USB ports, along with a wireless controller and headset.
The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Pack just dropped on Xbox LIVE today. The new map pack will set you back 1200 MS points. You also get a Double XP weekend out of the deal starting June 4. [click to continue…]
SanDisk is one of the first companies to jump on the storage bandwagon ever since Microsoft added support for external USB storage to the Xbox 360. Their first products are a pair of USB flash drives in 8GB and 16GB flavors, priced at $34.99 and $69.99, respectively. They also come with a 1-month Xbox LIVE Gold membership. [click to continue…]
The big hit of press preview show at CES 2010 was the Parrot AR.Drone. You could hardly get through the door of the Preview show floor because of the crowd oohing and aahing over this wicked little toy.
This plastic and styrofoam aircraft looks like one of those toy copters or spaceships you see at the mall. Not so fast though.
Look closer and you’ll find out quickly that the AR.Drone is a much smarter toy. In fact, it’s a video game.
The AR.Drone takes video games to an entirely different level.
The controller?
Your iPhone.
That’s right. This quadricopter is controlled by an iPhone or iPod Touch thanks to the on-board Wi-Fi system.
This post will be ground zero for all the CES coverage coming from 3D TV Source, Photography Bay and, of course, Tech Tilt. I’ll be covering CES 2010 for all three sites and there will obviously be some overlap between them. As a result, Tech Tilt will link to the appropriate coverage at Photography Bay and 3D TV Source for gear and news in their respective categories. Other tech news from CES 2010 will be covered here on Tech Tilt.
This post will be updated on a live rolling basis throughout CES 2010, so check back often for the latest updated.
The You Rock Guitar looks a lot like the Rock Band and Guitar Hero guitars; however, it’s got six real strings and a real fretboard.
You can play this guitar like any other electric guitar by plugging it into an amp, or you can even plug it into an iPhone or iPod. The folks behind it say that it also works as a Rock Band or Guitar Hero controller “that actually feels and plays like a real guitar.”
I’m cautiously optimistic about that claim as someone who plays guitar and hates the button mashing fest on Rock Band. However, I’m still trying to figure out how that it’s not a button mashing routine with this guitar as well. The data input on the game has to be the same for this guitar and the Rock Band guitars. Unless they’ve figured out a way to incorporate real notes into the color-coded icons on the screen (which the below video appears to confirm has not happened), this may not quite live up to my hopes. It does look promising that you can actually hold a pick in your hand, but I wouldn’t expect to learn how to play guitar from jamming to Rock Band with this guitar.
The You Rock Guitar carries a retail price of $179.95, which is almost enough to score you a real electric guitar like an entry-level Fender SE Strat and small amp.
I’m going to try to get some hands on time at CES and will report back with the results.
If you’re serious about your iPhone and iPod Touch gaming, you might want to check out this new Helix grip from PosiMotion. This should help you out with those driving and flying games that use the accelerometer.
As you can see from the pics, you can mount your iPhone in a horizontal or vertical manner.
The Helix will be on display at CES 2010. It will set you back $19.99 and should be available in Spring 2010. You can pre-order one from PosiMotion already.
