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Archive for October 10th, 2008

New Sat Nav software provides audio of historical France attractions

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Normal POIs in GPSs can do only so much, such as letting you know when you come near a place that many find interesting.  This new Sat Nav software takes basic POIs to the next level.  This software will provide audio whenever you travel near a historically famous place in France, and will last about two minutes. 

Developed by RoadTour, the software will work with most GPSs, such as GPSs by Garmin.  For 19.95 pounds, or only about $27, you can get a concise historical background on nearly 620 French attractions.  Many European countries are rich with culture, so a tourist will definitely benefit from something like this.  RoadTour spent over 3 years developing accurate historical information for every piece of audio they have. 

RoadTour worked with ZeVisit, a leading French tourist agency, who helped with famous attractions.  Yann Le Fichant, CEO of ZeVisit, had this to say about their product:

“At ZeVisit, we strongly believe that audio is the only media that can make you feel strong emotions. What better than making every journey an emotional journey full of stories and imagination as well?”

In addition, Daniel Taylor, RoadTour’s leading inventor, had this to say about their product and ZeVisit:

RoadTour’s inventor, Daniel Taylor found that driving the roads of Europe could be a highly frustrating experience; “Sat Navs are great in getting us from A to B but hopeless at connecting us with the rich heritage of Europe.  There are times driving France’s clear motorways, when you might as well be driving through England for all you’re finding out. Our goal with our French partner, Zevisit, is to bring France’s fascinating history, beautiful environment and rich culture to the millions of people who sometimes just drive straight to Provence, barely stopping for fuel on the way.”

Every time the GPS voice starts speaking about a historical place, you can expect to hear about and see pictures of towns, castles, battlefields, and related attractions.  Additionally, the audio will play automatically, so the driver or passenger will not have to do anything if they wanted to hear about a historical place.  In case you were worrying about the historical audio being distracting when you’re trying to get around France, well you will be happy to know that directional audio will be played over historical audio.

Lastly, here’s an example of something you can expect to hear:

“Alsace became part of Germany in 1871, when a far reaching city planning project was set in motion. The German empire decided to move its political and administrative headquarters to the old city centre of Strasbourg, close to La Place de la Republique…this is truly several cities in one. It is a city that is Catholic, Protestant and Jewish all at once and the three architectural styles co-exist marvellously.  According to local, Roger Siffert, Strasbourg is like a very beautiful woman wearing a superb tuxedo but with tennis shoes or boots on her feet…in Alsace, they would say ‘pretty like a punch in the eye’!”

Overall, this seems to be a great product, I only hope that more GPSs will include something like this for tourists. 

Read [RoadTour] Via [Webitpr]

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Sony Ericsson goes spy-tech in “James Bond Quantum of Solace”

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Talk about ideal product placement gone mad.  In the upcoming James Bond Quantum of Solace movie, there are eight different characters sporting six different Ericsson phones.  And nope, they don’t even have to tape over the brand name….I’m sure Sony paid plenty to be the featured phone of choice.

The six featured phones somehow also magically include the canceled Ericsson W707.  The new character Elvis has that one.  Bond himself sports the C902 (in the limited Titanium Silver color of course).  The Bond girl uses the W350 in Graphic White color; for anyone wanting to be just like the love of Bond’s life remember Graphic White.  As for the rest of the characters, we have M catching calls with the G700 (in Mineral Grey), Matthus using the G700, CIA with the W910, and another new character, Green, pockets the G900.

Anyone wanting to be just like “Bond, James Bond” can nab themselves one of the C902 limited edition Titanium Silver phones too.  It comes pre-loaded with all kinds of Bond-spy goodies.  You’ve got a spy game, the film’s trailer, and behind-the-scenes interviews.  Then, as if that weren’t enough, they throw in some more for the Quantum of Solace fans.  There are QoS ringtones, wallpapers, and themes.  Expected availability date is sometime at the end of this year for a limited time only.

via [boygeniousreport]

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Nerd Girls website encourages women into tech and science

Friday, October 10th, 2008

We’ve talked before on Popgadget about some of the geek girls who inspire us the most. So when one of those women, Cali Lewis, talked about a site called Nerd Girls, an online community of women tech enthusiasts, I had to take a look.

The site aims to encourage women and girls to get into technology, science and math. The first
Nerd Girls Club was founded by Dr. Karen Panetta, a professor at Tufts University, to empower her female engineering students and challenge the stereotypes about women in engineering.

Why is that important? As the site says:

New site Side Taker gives you the public’s perspective on your fights

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Growing up, I was always told that airing your dirty laundry in public was a bad thing, but that was before the Internet brought us blogging, podcasts and forums where we all give away all kinds of details about our lives.

I guess Side Taker was the logical next step: it’s a site where couples give both sides of an argument (anonymously, so that’s something) and the public gets to chime in. Why anyone would want to bare their relationship ups and downs for others to comment on is a mystery to me (but then I’ve written about books I like online and been savaged for it).

It’s cheaper than therapy though, I guess…

Via Geek Sugar.

Access controller developed to allow 1-handed play of PS2, PS3 and PC games

Friday, October 10th, 2008

FROM GAMERTELL - Ben Heck and eDimensional have created a $129.95 dollar, one-handed controller specifically designed with handicapped players in mind.  The Access Controller works with PCs, PS2s and PS3s, and has removable control modules so players can customize it.
MORE »

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Nintendo DSi

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Nintendo announced their new iteration of the Nintendo DS series. It’s called Nintendo DSi.

  • Kotaku: Nintendo Announce New DS: The Nintendo DSi

This version can no longer play Game Boy Advance games, but it has a huge list of new features:

  • It’s thinner than the DS Lite.
  • The screens are larger (3.25 inches).
  • A 0.3 megapixel camera and webcam (that’s 640 X 480 for all you folks from 1992).
  • SD memory card slot
  • Built-in Internet browser
  • The DSi Shop, where you can download games for the Nintendo DSi just like you can for the Wii.

The camera could introduce some intriguing game play. Just like the microphone and the touchscreen did for the original DS. I think I would have preferred a camera that faced toward ME while I’m playing the game. With that feature, game designers could program a way for me to see my opponents when playing online. Of course, that’s probably asking a bit much from a little handheld gaming device.

Honestly, the iPhone is seriously kicking butt on the “it’s already in my pocket” front. Since I don’t carry my DS around with me everywhere, I have found myself playing games on my iphone a little more than on my DS.

The Nintendo DSi will be available in Japan in November and the rest of us will have to wait a while until it comes here. I’m not quite ready to give up my GBA games yet, so I’ll see what they do to entice me.

Via: OtakuBooty: Nintendo Announces Upgraded Nintendo DSi

HP and MySpace team up: Better get rid of those risque shots on your site

Friday, October 10th, 2008

HP and MySpace just announced that they’ve teamed up and the partnership will now be providing the ability to print on all user profiles on MySpace.  Now, true, you could do this yourself before by going through steps of your own and saving things yourself and sending them to alternate programs to then print.  But now, it’s just oh so much more simple.

Beginning in November, MySpace users will see a HP-branded button that says “Click to Print” all over the place, not just their photo album.  It will be in their blog, comments, even the mail sections. 

Plans are to extend this even further by selling personalized merchandise.  The merchandise will have users’ photos on it.  No details have been provided at this time as to exactly what kind of merchandise, but, expect the usual mugs, t-shirts, calendars, that sort of thing. 

I can see this being a huge boon for the multitude of band sites on MySpace, and I’m sure they are loving this move.  I’m wondering though, can someone just click on a site, and decide to buy a mug with someone’s photo on that they don’t even know?  That would be kind of creepy.  I mean, imagine, someone can hit your page, print out your photo, stick it on a mug with the words “my guy” or “my girl” or something.  Ummm….ewwww.  And you know some freak out there will do just that.

The new feature is set to kick in just in time for the holidays here in the US, as well as Canada, Australia and Western Europe.  Get ready to start pressing “Click to Print” and again, you better get ready of any of those risque shots before they end up on someone’s t-shirt.

Via [yahootech]

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HP and MySpace team up: Better get rid of those risque shots on your site

Friday, October 10th, 2008

HP and MySpace just announced that they’ve teamed up and the partnership will now be providing the ability to print on all user profiles on MySpace.  Now, true, you could do this yourself before by going through steps of your own and saving things yourself and sending them to alternate programs to then print.  But now, it’s just oh so much more simple.

Beginning in November, MySpace users will see a HP-branded button that says “Click to Print” all over the place, not just their photo album.  It will be in their blog, comments, even the mail sections. 

Plans are to extend this even further by selling personalized merchandise.  The merchandise will have users’ photos on it.  No details have been provided at this time as to exactly what kind of merchandise, but, expect the usual mugs, t-shirts, calendars, that sort of thing. 

I can see this being a huge boon for the multitude of band sites on MySpace, and I’m sure they are loving this move.  I’m wondering though, can someone just click on a site, and decide to buy a mug with someone’s photo on that they don’t even know?  That would be kind of creepy.  I mean, imagine, someone can hit your page, print out your photo, stick it on a mug with the words “my guy” or “my girl” or something.  Ummm….ewwww.  And you know some freak out there will do just that.

The new feature is set to kick in just in time for the holidays here in the US, as well as Canada, Australia and Western Europe.  Get ready to start pressing “Click to Print” and again, you better get ready of any of those risque shots before they end up on someone’s t-shirt.

Via [yahootech]

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Shortages Expected for Nintendo Products this Christmas

Friday, October 10th, 2008

Yes, this might sound lame, but Nintendo expects that it won’t be unable to meet demand for this Christmas (again). Before you start throwing stones towards Nintendo, you should know that the company will increase its Wii shipments by 50%, the DS ones by 10%. At the moment, Nintendo is confident that they will sell everything they make in the U.S despite a slumping economy - and I believe it. When I was in Europe, I remember that video games were doing well in hard times because people wanted to be entertained - I think that the same principle could be applied here in the U.S.

Anyhow, it is still puzzling for fans to understand why Nintendo is having such a hard time to produce enough consoles to meet demand. Prepare for impact!

Fanboy Mocks Up New MacBooks

Friday, October 10th, 2008

I’m sure we’ve all had enough of the lofty rumors, thumb-sucking speculation and blurry spy shots of the upcoming Mac notebooks that Apple will announce Tuesday. Cult of Mac blogger and Wired.com editor Leander Kahney (who, uh, sits right behind me) stumbled upon a visual treat: Fanboy mock-ups of the new notebooks.

The images are courtesy of Miguel Suarez, who in the past did a pretty spot-on mock-up of the fourth-gen ipod nano before its official release. That’s some exceptional talent. Apple should hire this guy.

See also:

  • Apple Teases New Notebook, Rumored Under $1,000
  • Photos: Is This the MacBook ‘Brick’?
  • Rumor Says That Apple Brick Will Be A Metal Brick
  • Apple’s Brick: A Dual-Screen, Foldable Netbook?

Likely Feature List of New MacBooks [CultOfMac]

Photo: Elchinocudeiro/Flickr