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handhelds

LeapFrog unveils Leapster Explorer handheld gaming device and e-book reader

Doing it's best to compete with handheld devices like the Nintendo DS and even the iPhone and iPod Touch, LeapFrog has announced its next-generation Leapster educational gaming device, the Leapster Explorer.

This Explorer features a sharper, 3.2-inch 420x420-pixel touch screen and improved processing power that allows the device to run video, 3D graphics and Flash-based games. The $69.99 Explorer launches on July 12 with 12 games and 18 Leaplet Learning Apps, which are are akin to some of the smaller, simpler educational games found in Apple's App store. A two-pack of the Learning Apps will run $… Read more

Nintendo adds another dimension to classic puzzler in Picross 3D

Aside from its collection of infinitely recycled franchise characters, Nintendo has a secondary batch of lesser-known, but very unique and clever, abstract games. The Art Style games for DSiWare and WiiWare represent this side of Nintendo, and so does Picross 3D.

The concept of the game lies somewhere between Minesweeper and Sudoku: you chip away 3D clusters of bricks based on numerical clues to reveal the objects hidden underneath.

Deciding which blocks to remove becomes a game of deduction, and chiseling away blocks with the stylus gives a satisfying sensation of being a sculptor of hidden objects. That's mostly … Read more

'Surround vision' takes viewers beyond TV screen

Surround sound? That's old technology. How about surround vision?

The folks at the MIT Media Lab have developed a new system called surround vision that can let you follow objects outside of your regular TV screen by viewing them on smartphones and handheld Internet devices. Imagine you're watching a movie on your regular TV, and a car drives off the screen. You could follow and view that car as it drives away by looking at and pointing your smartphone or tablet in its direction.

The person leading this promising new project is Santiago Alfaro, a graduate student at the lab. To kick-start his testing, Alfaro attached a magnetometer to an existing handheld device. A type of digital compass, magnetometers are already used in smartphones like the iPhone to detect the direction the device is pointing. He then created the necessary software to sync the magnetometer with other sensors on the device.

After outfitting the handheld with motion sensors, Alfaro shot video on campus from three different angles--center, left, and right. Watching the TV screen straight on played video from the center. But by pointing the handheld to the left or right, Alfaro was able to view the footage shot from both side angles.

As a further test of the technology, Alfaro took advantage of the alternate takes found on many DVDs. He created a demo that let him switch between the final footage and the alternate takes and angles by changing the direction of the handheld device.… Read more

Can Sony stop breaking its fans' hearts?

At some point, Sony became the Chicago Cubs of consumer electronics, that team stacked with talent that still finds a way to not make it to the World Series.

Twenty years ago, few would have made that analogy, of course. But that was before a long string of letdowns. The Walkman, once the king of portable music players, was unseated by the iPod. The Reader, which came out before the Kindle, was quickly surpassed by Amazon's e-reader. And the PlayStation 3, the follow-up to Sony's PS 2 gaming juggernaut, was slow out of the gate. Though it initially … Read more

Report: Sony launching new line of handheld gadgets

Sometime this year, Sony will launch a new smartphone and a portable tablet-like device, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The smartphone will be able to play PlayStation games, and the tablet device will be some combination of a Netbook, e-reader, and PlayStation Portable, according to "people familiar with the matter" who spoke to the Journal. The reading/gaming/computer gadget is intended to better compete with the Apple iPad and an expected wave of similar devices from other gadget makers. Both products are supposed to hit store shelves this year, though there are not … Read more

Nintendo DS gets Modern Warfare: Handcramps

Did you think Modern Warfare 2 was all about 360 and PS3 headset smack-talking in front of a massive HD display and booming surround sound? No, there is another. With the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came the less-heralded Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Mobilized, for the Nintendo DS.

Come on, admit you're curious. Want to know how it is?

First of all, this is obviously not a port of the MW2 game. It's not even close, and it doesn't try to be, either. Its name, Modern Warfare Mobilized, suggests it's a spinoff, and the storyline parallels different events and a different single-player campaign.

Now, the good news: this isn't a simple licensing rip-off. Under the hood of MW Mobilized is a real 3D FPS, which should be familiar to anyone who's played the previous Call of Duty: World at War DS game. Visually and aurally, this just might be the pinnacle of Nintendo DS 3D gaming. That's not a huge compliment, but levels involve interiors, courtyards, overhead helicopters launching air strikes, at a distinctly slower and more linear pace than the console game, but with a decent level of production polish provided your expectations remain severely curbed.

Enemies emerge two or three at a time, and their death cries and animations bring to mind Doom more than Call of Duty, but the storyline is cinematically told and decent fun with headphones. Unfortunately, however, FPS control for the DS is a jury-rigged nightmare. Using an all-too-familiar control scheme adopted by Metroid Prime Hunters and others, the D-pad controls basic movement and strafing, while the left shoulder button fires. Stylus movement on the lower screen replaces the right analog stick moves, and while it technically works, the setup leaves one's hands cramped and carpal-tunneled after just 10 minutes.… Read more