Tony Hawk's New Game With Skate Board Remote

Tony Hawk has long been a favourite amongst game players and wanna be skateboarding champs. The latest incarnation of the Tony Hawk series of video games comes with a skateboard, like a Wii Fit board, only "way cooler", that allows you to get more than your thumbs into the action. Check out this Wired video in which Tony explains how to maneuver on the board:

The game is yet to be released but will be available for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.

Wolfram Has A Sense Of Humour

Enter "Are you Skynet?" into the dialogue box of the new computational engine Wolframalpha and you'll get a little easter egg. For those of you not familiar "In The Terminator series, Skynet is the primary antagonist—an artificially intelligent system which became self aware and revolted against its creators. Skynet has yet to appear on screen and its actions are often performed via other robots and computer systems."

So it would appear that Stephen Wolfram, or the artificially intelligent system that he created has a sense of humour! I for one welcome our new computational engine overlord...

Social Networking Activities Jump

If you are spending more time on social networking sites these days, you are not alone. According to this Globe and Mail article "Nielsen Online, which measures web traffic, said the number of minutes on social networks in the United States rose 83 per cent in April from the same month a year ago..."

The total number of minutes spent on Facebook alone went from 1.7 billion a year ago to 13.9 billion in April of this year, a 700% increase. As for site popularity Facebook was no. 1, followed by MySpace, Blogger, Tagged.com, and Twitter.com, in that order. Not surprising to me, Twitter saw the greatest growth with a 3,712 per cent increase in April as compared to a year ago.

Rogers Begins Sale of Android Phones

Rogers began sales of two android powered smartphones on Tuesday. The HTC Dream and the HTC Magic. The Dream is the same phone being sold in the US as the G1 while the Magic is a touch screen only version.

“They're just the vanguard of a gigantic army,” PC Magazine analyst Sascha Segan said from New York. “These are the little scouts who are coming in front of the massive infantry.”

On Tuesday, Acer also announced that it will be making netbooks with the Android mobile operating system, which would have Google competing squarely with Microsoft.

For the record I bought my Dream on day 1 and I'm lovin it.

Source: Globe and Mail

New Strategy For Xbox Revealed By Microsoft

On the eve of E3, North America's largest gaming conference, Microsoft has announced it's plans for the Xbox 360 platform, Xbox Live. Deals have been struck with social network sites Facebook which will allow access to users profiles and the ability to share photos on their television through the Xbox Live network and Twitter to allow users to post and read messages via Xbox Live subscriptions. In Britian, Xbox live users will be able to watch live television, including professional soccer, over an Internet version of the Sky service. Microsoft also gave it's first look at the upcoming project Natal which "Using a sophisticated camera, infrared sensors and voice recognition software, Natal allows users to control a game or other programs, like a virtual painting studio, merely by waving their arms, speaking to the system and moving around."

Source: New York Times

Tiny Robot Handles Tough Terrain

From the folks at iRobot comes a little device that deploys from your pocket and is capable of handling itself over rough terrain. I envision a mounted/embedded camera for surveillance, though the video makes no mention of it's intended uses.

Analysts Agree Apple May Cut Price Of iPhone

Speculation is that Apple is getting ready to cut the price of the iPhone and create a two tiered offering of Basic and Pro models. The feeling amongst analysts is that Apple will offer an 8GB model for $99 which would prop up sales in a slumping economy. "We expect a price cut to the current generation iPhone to drive 50 per cent to 100 per cent incremental unit demand," said Morgan Stanley analyst Karen Huberty. RBC analyst Mike Abramsky expects three prices -- $99, $199, and $299 for the 32GB iPhone Pro.

Source: Globe and Mail

Microsoft To Spend Big In Fight Against Google

Microsoft is preparing to launch "Bring", a new search engine, and is prepared to spend big to make the name stick. Reports are that Microsoft is prepared to launch a $100 million ad campaign to get the name out there, that's twice the amount considered to be large for a new consumer product. "I don't think they can win this game with a better mousetrap," said Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor & Associates, brand consultants. "They have to compete with Google on a brand front — there's no other way to skin this but go head-on against the Google brand."

Source: CBC

Modern Warfare 2 - Gameplay Trailer

Infinity Ward has released a game play trailer for it's newest title, Modern Warfare 2, and if it lives up to the promise of the trailer it will be a big one! Snowmobiles, aircraft, hand to hand, it's got it all. The game is due to be released on November 10th on PC and Xbox 360 and is available for pre-order on the Modern Warfare 2 website. Check it out...

Video Game - E3 2009 - Video Game Trailers

New Yorker Cover Art Painted On iPhone

The June 1 cover of the New Yorker Magazine was created entirely on an iPhone by artist Jorge Colombo using the $4.99 Brushes application he purchased through the apps store. The amazing process was captured in the following video:



“I got a phone in the beginning of February, and I immediately got the program so I could entertain myself,” says Colombo. “Before, unless I had a flashlight or a miner’s hat, I could not draw in the dark.”

Source: New Yorker