Join Trimersion wireless VR gaming headset
Virtual Reality has had a chequred history over the years. It’s a technology that has always amazed anybody who’s tried it but the component cost has always kept it out of the hands of most people.
Trimersion are trying to change that with the release of their wireless VR headet. Yes, I did say wireless! The problem with using a headset for first person shooters is that when you’re standing up, blowing away aliens on a virtual spaceship, you can get very disoriented and end up tripping over the cable. Plus the weight of it tugging on you is a constant reminder that you’re still in the real world.
Trimersion have solved this problem by sending the video to the headet via a wireless transmitter. And because we all like to shoot things every once in a while they made a controller shaped like a gun and attached it to the headset. End result? In theory, a scarily effective sense of immersion.
I say in theory because the CES show gremlins are out in force so although I can see the accuracy of the head tracker (by watching it manipulate the game on the TV) and try the headset on for ergonomics, I can’t actually see a picture inside it 
Trimersion assure me that this is a show related problem and that they’ve never had any issues running inside people’s houses – time will tell whether that’s going to be a problem or not as the wireless spectrum gets increasingly crowded.
Ergonomically the headset is a good fit even with my glasses on – close fitting but comfortable – and the stereo headphones do a good job of isolating you from reality. The controller is styled like a sawn off shotgun so you can imagine how well it works (or would work if I could try it) on first person shooters. The controller has various buttons and d-pads to replicate the standard controls of your average console controller so plug the unit in and you’re good to go.
The Trimersion comes with connecting cables to plug into Xbox, PS2 and USB for the PC and it’ll be available in it’s wireless form later this year for $395.
Finally you can use the GPS that’s already in your phone!
At the CES show in Las Vegas, Trimble has announced a way to get more use out of the GPS ready phone that you likely already have.
The full expected rollout is late January 2007 for their Guideworks GPS solution.
What it does is use your existing phone’s GPS chip in cooperation with their software, together you can use them to:map out a trip, tag pictures taken with your phone with GPS coordinates, share trip data online,a compass and even geo-caching adventures.
This suite and the other solutions they’ve created make your phone do more than you ever thought it could (ok, so
some of your surf the web for who knows what on them, but this is really cool too!) Now you can even track your workouts and play them back over google earth! Not too shabby!
The best thing about this is that it likely uses a phone you probably already have. It’s very simple software to activate.
I was lucky enough to be able to see this in action a few weeks ago with a simple Java applet running on a regular handheld phone. While a buddy and I streaked across the farmlands of central California we could see a little dot (that was us) moving along a scrolling google map. It was really something! Continue reading » Finally you can use the GPS that’s already in your phone!
Microsoft and Toshiba Announce the Portege R400
The Portege R400 is one sexy looking laptop (if you can say that about a billion or so transistors). It looks to of taken a fair bit of style ideas from the Mac (only available in gloss black or white) and is the ideal portable companion for Windows Vista (which also seems to of “borrowed” a few ideas from the Mac world).
Continue reading » Microsoft and Toshiba Announce the Portege R400
Digital Hero sports camera
Extreme sports fans rejoyce, no longer do you have to duct tape a video camera to your helmet and hope for the best. GoProCamera are showing their Digital Hero mode. It’s a 3MP digital camera that attaches securely to the wrist with velcro straps and takes stills or video with sound at 30fps. It’s also waterproof to 100 feet and it’s on sale for $139.
Granted you could get a ruggedised camera from the likes of Pentax or Olympus, but you’d pay a lot more and you’d still have to get the duct tape out to attach it somewhere!
Emtrace Widget station
Emtrace are showing their new WidgetStation in pre-release form this year. It’s an internet connected desk clock with two screens capable of displaying “Widgets” – small pieces of content that grab different bits of internet content. Stock ticker, weather, whatever – it’s all there quietly cycling around on the displays. It’s a nice piece of design and would look good on the average geek’s desk.
It should be available later this year, prices yet to be determined.
CES 2007 Keynote speech (Conclusion)
The last half of the keynote was mostly given over to entertainment in all it’s forms. First we had some demos of up and coming games running on Vista. Well, actually we had video footage of the demos of the games but you get the idea. If the halo 3 footage is representative of the game play and not just something they knocked up for a demo then we’re in for a treat later on in the year when it releases.
For me though the highlight was the Lego game of the “proper” three Star Wars movies – what can I say, I just don’t have the reflexes for first person shooters 
You can’t make a speech about entertainment without mentioning the Xbox 360 and MS made a lot of the new services (there’s that word again) coming later on in the year.
Continue reading » CES 2007 Keynote speech (Conclusion)
CES 2007 Keynote – part 3
Windows Mobile
When Bill Gates said Windows Mobile had greater market penetration than Blackberry I was slightly aghast but thinking about it I can believe it and after thinking about it a tad more I’m amazed I was even surprised.
Windows Mobile seems to have sneaked onto so many mobiles, I can count on one hand the number of people I know with Blackberry cells. I have a few friends who are real MS haters and even some of them are considering going the MS route on their next annual upgrade. I think it’s more than just the MS marketing department that has caused this, I’ve used MS mobile for the past 6 months and it is a quality product.
Normally with MS software you use it as it’s the defacto standard but for me I choose MS Mobile because that’s all that came with the mobile I wanted, however when it comes to my next mandatory annual upgrade the phone I choose must be able to run MS Mobile.
The final announcement of the Keynote was the partnership between Microsoft and Ford Motor Company, the aim of which is make your car feel like part of the home network.
The MS side of the Microsoft Car is (fortunately, some may say) connected to the entertainment and communication side of things (rather than transmission, steering or anything else that could mean a crash!). So things like syncing your media library with your stereo, your hands free mobile would all be part of the MS Car OS.
The technology is due for public release later this year and will be available in over 12 different models of the latest Fords. They’re going for the mass market so it’s not just the expensive models that it will be incorporated in, if you buy a new Ford Focus in 2007 there’s a fair chance it will be partly powered by Microsoft.
CES 2007 Keynote – part 2
Key Note – Home Server
It wasn’t that long ago when only us geeks had home LANs and servers in the garage, nowadays most (well if not most at least many) households seem to have (and need) multiple machines. Microsoft has taken note and more machines means more money you need a central repository to store those shared files and resources. Spotting the fact that most households don’t want (or need) an over priced business server solution MS is adding a new varient to the family, the MS Home Server.
The MS Home Server is Vista without the flashy GUI (though I’m sure it will require hardware that could run DirectX 10 just to keep the likes of Intel and AMD happy). The Home Server box will simply sit away out of view and perform the unglamorous task of backing up all the machines in the home network (though Bill never explained what media would hold terrabytes of music, movies and downloads), providing “secure” remote access (imagine boring the friends you make on your next vacation with pictures you took on last years holiday) and other good server stuff usually seen in the office enviroment.
I think I’ve spent too much time with Marc as this post sounds more cynical than I really intended, there is definitely a need for a Home Server type product. Details of the Home Server were a bit sparse (it was keynote speech after all) so we’ll look forward to more information presently.
