Introducing the new iPhone netbook

Wouldn’t it be nice.

CueLight Interactive Pool Table System

“Transform any pool table into a digitally-enhanced video experience. High-definition imagery responds in real-time to every shot. User-selectable themes yield infinite possibilities. As seen in the Paradise Tower Penthouse, Hard Rock Hotel & CasinoTM, Las Vegas and the Esquire SoHo apartment.”

Enough said…link over here

I ♥ Nokia N900

With all the Apple hoopla happening today, thought I would take the time to take a tangent from all the tweets and blog posts about the bright future of that company in Cupertino (it is bright, don’t get me wrong). Instead let me take a tangent and take this moment to confess my love and admiration for the soon to be released Nokia N900.

As some of you may now, I have an extreme problem holding onto the same handset for more than a month. I tend to sport the wandering eye to all the bright new shiny objects I see coming down the pipeline, but the one that has my absolute attention now is N900 or Rover as I used to know it. I’m not going to spend the time to break it down to granular details until I get it in my hands, BUT ditching Symbian for Maemo, Linux powered, hardware QWERTY, 32GB storage (expandable to 48GB), ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics, 800X480 resolution, 5 megapixel camera, flash 9 enabled etc. are all reasons for me to believe that this is a device for me. You will be able to download movies with a torrent client and watch your 1.3gig 720p divx movies all straight from the device…nothing but applause here.

Yes it’s a bit pudgy and a bit of a brick, but that’s the price you pay for having a cpu in your pocket. I’ve had the luxury of holding and playing around with the device a bit to put it through some quick tests, and I have to say that the easiest way to explain the N900 to the N97 is to look at it as the evil twin. Both are convergent devices, but with a different makeup.

N97 = Spiderman, N900 = Venom.

One is the hero, while the other is the villain. You wont see any big ad campaigns for the N900 (although W+K and one dot zero did something pretty spectacular using the N900 – breakdown here) and unlike all the PR and buzz around the N97, I’m sure the silent, but deadly N900 will like it this way.

What’s most interesting about the device is that you get a glimpse into the future of Nokia and where I believe they will be putting most of their chips – will this be the slow death to Symbian over time, or will they continue to create different product streams for the next 5 years? My guess is that that while the N97 is the pinnacle of what is possible with Symbian, that the future with Maemo will be very bright indeed for Nokia – now if only the company could put the pedal to the metal and be swifter to adapt and change with the speed of light. While Nokia is the clear cut leader catering to emerging markets and mid-range devices, there is only a matter of time when Apple will introduce the cheaper price point iPhone Nano to go for the jugular beyond the high-end affluent consumer.

All the details you need here

Tron Legacy = I’m so in. Tron/Scavenger Hunt = Not so in

For those who don’t remeber.

Via Gizmodo

I was just having a discussion with some good people about how it seems that the “scavenger hunt” has become one of those mandatory boxes that every marketer and brand needs to tick when launching a full campaign. Call it an alternate reality game, scavenger hunt, or a massive waste of time – does the amount of PR and engagement you get with such a small amount of fans actually add up?

Slashfilm has a good breakdown of what transpired at Comi-Con in what was called “The Hunt for Flynn’s Arcade”.

Via Slashfilm

Augmented Reality mobile shooter

Nothing like a good mobile AR shooter on a saturday afternoon. A collaboration between Georgia Tech, SCAD (Savannah School of Art and Design) with the help of Nvidia, this truly takes augmented reality into a space that I feel will get really interesting in the near future.

For the record, I’m not a huge fan of AR ideas where you need to print out a piece of paper and put it in front of a webcam on your computer. Who would do this? I work in advertising and research lots of different techniques and mechanics for delivering ideas and even I can’t be bothered to try most of them out – novelties only last so long. The only way AR will become a success and become ubiquitous is through integration with mobile- if you’re able to look at a marker in a store on a piece of packaging with your phone, then I can see the value of what that could bring to a consumer.

What’s great about this besides the obvious fact that its a mobile AR game, is the level of detail and gameplay that I’ve never seen before. The video does a pretty good job of explaining the in’s and out’s of the game, but the thing that it doesn’t touch on is the notion of how great this could be as a multiplayer experience using the one big marker as a map. 5 phones, millions of zombies…all good fun.

more info here

Project Natal makes an appearance with Jimmy Fallon

I was utterly impressed by what Microsoft came out with at E3, but I was a little weary that the polished demo presentation was a little too polished – was the gameplay actually going to be that smooth and would the motion detection actually be that sensitive to your movements?

Fast forward to last night where Project Natal makes an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Now Jimmy is a self professed gadget fanatic himself, basically he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to tech toys, so having the Late Night boys get the honor of taking a spin on the new motion equipped Xbox must have a been a dream for all.

The results? Well it sure looks like the real deal in my opinion and from the reaction of Jimmy and co screaming like little kids – I’m assuming they would agree. This could kick the ass of Wii and Playstation in one giant sweep.

Via Engadget