Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Gaming, Freeware, Developer, iPhone, App Store

This one might require a little patience to watch, but those interested will be rewarded well, I think. The footage above is from an Apple Store in Toyko’s Ginza shopping district, where none other than Keita Takahashi showed up to demo his latest iPhone game. Who’s Keito Takahashi? He’s the gaming auteur behind Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, two of the weirdest yet most fascinating games of the last decade or so, and he’s bringing Noby Noby Boy to the iPhone.

Unfortunately, the above demo is in Japanese, but you can see what kinds of thinking is going into the game. It looks like he’s completely revamping the game as a top-down physics-based version of the already very strange PS3 version. We would provide you with some more explanation, but it probably won’t make things any clearer: the object of the game is to stretch out a little creature named BOY, and at the end of the level, your stretched length adds up with all the other players of the game online to another creature called GIRL, who is currently reaching out into the solar system. Told you it wouldn’t help.

Nevertheless, it’s pretty fascinating just to watch the four videos (start here) and see what weirdness transpires in the video — there are some interesting touchscreen controls, and lots of quick physics on the items bouncing around the iPhone’s screen. It’s not that great as an actual game preview, but that might not matter much anyway: Takahashi said a while back that whenever this weird monstrosity does release on Apple’s handheld, “price-wise might be like free.” We can’t wait to see it.

[via Panic]

TUAWNoby Noby Boy demoed at Apple Store in Japan originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Budget, Sedan, Hyundai

Hyundai is busy turning over its product lineup with significant redesigns already done or slated for some of its most important models. The 2011 Sonata has already had its coming out party, and the 2011 Elantra will follow shortly with a design seemingly inspired by its big bro based on these spy shots. The most telling design cues are the steeply raked front windshield that meets the hood way out in the middle of the front wheels (cab forward, anyone?) and the sloping roofline that together create a coupe-ish profile. And though the front and sides are obscured by camouflage, we’re betting what’s underneath is just as curvacious as the Sonata’s sheetmetal.

As for what will power the next-gen Elantra, Hyundai has a slate of capable four-cylinder engines ranging in size from 2.0 to 2.4 liters of displacement. There’s even a 200-horsepower, direct-inject version of the 2.4-liter engine that will power the Sonata, but unless it’s detuned for duty in the Elantra, we can’t see that mill being used in this pint-sized application. Fortunately, we already know what the interior will look like thanks to earlier spy shots.

Check out the gallery below for a complete set of 2011 Hyundai Elantra spy shots.

Spy Shots: Rakish new 2011 Hyundai Elantra caught winter testing originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Hyundai, South Korea

This ended about how we predicted. You all no doubt remember McFly, the guy that won a legit eBay auction for a slightly used Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T for $16,125. Problem was that the seller – Glenn Hyundai of Lexington, KY – felt the car was worth more ($19,700) and refused to sell it to McFly. They claim they set a reserve price (even though they didn’t) and wouldn’t budge. End of story, kind of.

See, the internet got a hold of the McFly’s tale of woe, and few things excite people (us included) more than tales of bald-faced greed mixed with dishonest car dealers. Not surprisingly, the story took off like wildfire and Glenn Hyundai soon found itself inundated with phone calls, emails, faxes – you name it. The onslaught became so bad that Glenn Hyundai got in touch with McFly and told him that if he would call off his dogs (remove his forum posts, plead with Gencoupe.com forum members to stop harassing the dealership, somehow get Digg.com to do… exactly what we’re not sure, etc.) they would presumably sell him a Genesis Coupe for $16,125.

Why do we say presumably? Because we never knew the details of the agreement McFly worked out with Glenn Hyundai. Or, as McFly puts it an updated post, “For the record I have not shared any part of the verbal agreement.” Despite this agreement never being finalized, some felt that McFly’s saga was over (while some nearly broke their hands patting themselves on the back). We ourselves were reluctant to think or declare anything until McFly had the Genesis Coupe in hand. Guess what?

No Genesis Coupe 2.0T for McFly. He’s claiming that Glenn Hyundai has breached the “verbal agreement” he reached with them. He’s refusing to give any details of said verbal agreement, but maintains that Glenn Hyundai owes him a Gen Coupe for $16,125. Also, McFly’s retained a lawyer. Also-also, he’s contacted Hyundai USA but received no response. We’ll keep you updated. Thanks to Bora for the heads up!

[Source: Gencoupe.com]

It’s on like Donkey Kong: Jilted Hyundai Genesis Coupe buyer jilted again, lawyers up originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Coupe, Hybrid, Performance, Lamborghini, Luxury

How much horsepower is enough? While we’re fairly certain some might be answering that rhetorical question with raised eyebrows, Lamborghini is seemingly content with a number just shy of 700 raging horses. That doesn’t mean that the Italian supercar manufacturer won’t continue its unabated push towards ever-quicker acceleration – though top speeds higher than 211 miles per hour sound unlikely – but there’s clearly more than one way to skin a cat Prancing Horse.

Why not just build a bigger engine? Simple, as company CEO Stephan Winkelmann correctly observes, “It has come to the point where acceleration equals consumption. More consumption means increased CO2 emissions.” Apparently, the answer to the power conundrum will be less weight. “We will use composite materials in the right place, when it also has the right cost, stiffness and mechanical characteristics,” explains R&D chief Maurizio Reggiani.

Expect aluminum to be used in place of heavier steel, along with improved aerodynamics and stop/start technology to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions. We’ve also heard repeated rumblings of full hybrid powertrains, though those seem more likely to come at the tail end of the decade. Whatever the case, it should be interesting to see how all the world’s supercar manufacturers – Lamborghini included – grapple with the push to be green while also upholding their performance traditions.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Report: Lamborghini admits R&D focus shifting from more power to less weight originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Drive: 2011 BMW 5 Series is a smooth operator

We spend some quality time with the all-new 2011 5 Series to see if BMW can rekindle the magic of the E39.

Video: Jay Leno’s Garage welcomes Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

Conan might have gotten a few chuckles with his Veyron mouse shtick, but Leno gets the last laugh when he parks the world’s fastest convertible in his garage.

Ed Whitacre named permanent CEO at GM, no Saab deal yet

Acting CEO Ed Whitacre takes the helm of General Motors for good, but remains mum on the future of Saab.

Also of interest:

• BBC planning Top Gear video game
• Infiniti considering front-wheel-drive vehicle
• Saab 9-5 and 9-4X in low-volume production?
• Video: More Mini Countryman action, fewer no yellow camo paint jobs
• Toyota continuing to sell recalled vehicles without a fix

Browse our archive of Daily U-Turn posts or subscribe to the RSS feed

Daily U-Turn: What you missed on 1.25.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The result is that poverty grew at twice the rate of U.S. population growth from 2000 - 2008, and now encompasses 39.1 million Americans.

If one were to expand the definition of poverty to merely 'poor' (yet still very poor), then a eye-popping 30% of the nation lives no higher than twice the poverty base line.

Brookings: In 2008, 91.6 million people—more than 30 percent of the nation’s population—fell below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. More individuals lived in families with incomes between 100 and 200 percent of poverty line (52.5 million) than below the poverty line (39.1 million) in 2008. Between 2000 and 2008, large suburbs saw the fastest growing low-income populations across community types and the greatest uptick in the share of the population living under 200 percent of poverty.

Here's where it gets even more ridiculous -- If you break down the data to individual areas, then there's at least ten U.S. cities with poverty rates of around 30%. Moreover, Brookings latest research highlights how poverty has been getting worse especially fast in the suburbs, thus the U.S. is faced with the challenges of suburban poverty like never before:

California and Florida have been hit especially hard:

Finally, this bad news has likely become far worse already. This research doesn't include 2009 since full data hasn't come out yet. When it does, expect a huge up-tick in poverty rates given since that's when the real brunt of the recent crisis hit 'Main St.'.

Unfortunately, our regression analyses suggest that these metro areas are not likely to see such decreases in 2009, a year in which no metro area proved exempt from increased unemployment rates. Although the Census will not officially release poverty rates for 2009 until fall of next year, job losses alone foretell a substantially larger increase in the metropolitan poverty rate than the 0.3 percent reported from 2007 to 2008, when unemployment increases were just beginning to accelerate.

Read the full report here >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• 1-in-3 Old Brits Live In Freezing 'Fuel Poverty' Hoping For Global Warming
• Gartman: Blame Democratic Mayors For Nationwide Poverty
• You're Making Less Than You Used To And 40 Million Americans Are Now Poor

For quite a while now, we’ve been hearing how many in the recording industry don’t like selling pure music digital files, because they leave out the rest of what people like to get with an album: the booklet, images, lyrics, etc. Lately there have been a few different attempts (with a whole bunch more on the way) to add that sort of information to digital music files. Not so long ago Apple introduced its iTunes LP which hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm yet. Now there’s another competitor in the space, called MusicDNA, which includes all that additional content. It’s main differentiator, though, is that the content can be regularly updated — but only if you have the official copy, rather than an unauthorized one. I certainly understand the thinking here (it’s an attempt to create a “freemium” type situation which encourages people to buy the version with all that other (updating) content. But I do wonder if the updating will freak some users out — knowing that they want to buy something that isn’t going to change over time in any way. I like the basic idea that content could be added to (which certainly could be a reason to buy) so long as old content can’t be tinkered with/deleted (it’s not clear in either article here). Another article suggests that the updated content would be for things like concert listings or Twitter feeds, which actually makes sense. Though, seeing all that, I wonder if this file format actually competes with the new trend for musicians to put out iPhone apps that sound like they basically do the same thing as this new MusicDNA format does.

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Deficit hawks, your voices have been heard loud and clear!

You’re tired of all the spending and so is Obama, and he’ll announce at this wednesday’s State of the Union that he’s going to “freeze” spending growth.

Well, kind of.

As The Wall Street Journal and other outlets are reporting, the freeze will apply to the discretionary, non-military part of the budget. That ccounts for 17% of the budget.

Healthcare, defense, Social Security, etc. – i.e. the 83% of the budget that really matters — are all left intact to grow like bamboo.

This is not Obama’s fault. “Bending the curve” in any one of these other areas would require a Herculean task beyond the powers of a party with a mere 59-41 Senate majority.

Still, it will be interesting to see if the market moves on this news. Our sense is that despite what supply-siders would have you believe, the market is not that eager for true austerity.

And though our debt will continue to pile high into the sky, this could effect certain public works and other areas that might have benefitted from more stimulus, and so this news could whack into stocks.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Massive New Study Confirms Stimulus Spending On Road Construction Does Nothing To Lower Unemployment
• Ratigan: The White House Can’t Keep Its Story Straight On How Many Jobs The Stimulus Has Saved
• Barack Obama About To Whack Banks With Deficit-Reducing Bailout Fee

Avalanche Studios’ has revealed the exclusive pre-order goodies of their upcoming over-the-top action game sequel, Just Cause 2. The preorder bonuses includes the ultimate in amphibious transport, a deadly accurate and powerful pistol, a lightweight and lethal

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Filed under: Car Buying, Coupe, Performance, Auctions, Hyundai, South Korea

This ended about how we predicted. You all no doubt remember McFly, the guy that won a legit eBay auction for a slightly used Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T for $16,125. Problem was that the seller – Glenn Hyundai of Lexington, KY – felt the car was worth more ($19,700) and refused to sell it to McFly. They claim they set a reserve price (even though they didn’t) and wouldn’t budge. End of story, kind of.

See, the internet got a hold of the McFly’s tale of woe, and few things excite people (us included) more than tales of bald-faced greed mixed with dishonest car dealers. Not surprisingly, the story took off like wildfire and Glenn Hyundai soon found itself inundated with phone calls, emails, faxes – you name it. The onslaught became so bad that Glenn Hyundai got in touch with McFly and told him that if he would call off his dogs (remove his forum posts, plead with Gencoupe.com forum members to stop harassing the dealership, somehow get Digg.com to do… exactly what we’re not sure, etc.) they would presumably sell him a Genesis Coupe for $16,125.

Why do we say presumably? Because we never knew the details of the agreement McFly worked out with Glenn Hyundai. Or, as McFly puts it an updated post, “For the record I have not shared any part of the verbal agreement.” Despite this agreement never being finalized, some felt that McFly’s saga was over (while some nearly broke their hands patting themselves on the back). We ourselves were reluctant to think or declare anything until McFly had the Genesis Coupe in hand. Guess what?

No Genesis Coupe 2.0T for McFly. He’s claiming that Glenn Hyundai has breached the “verbal agreement” he reached with them. He’s refusing to give any details of said verbal agreement, but maintains that Glenn Hyundai owes him a Gen Coupe for $16,125. Also, McFly’s retained a lawyer. Also-also, he’s contacted Hyundai USA but received no response. We’ll keep you updated. Thanks to Bora for the heads up!

[Source: Gencoupe.com]

It’s On Like Donkey Kong: Jilted Hyundai Genesis Coupe buyer jilted again, lawyers up originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If Canon can pull this off, it’ll be a real coup. A recent patent shows a method for embedding an electronic image inside the viewfinder, while still retaining the pentaprism mechanism for bona-fide direct optical viewing. The layout they show is probably simplified and spaced out a bit for the sake of clarity, but the general idea is that you’d have the EVF above the optical VF, mainly for shot review without having to take your eye away from the camera.

I’m not sure whether I would prefer they just work on making the optical VF bigger and clearer — I think this is a feature you have to use for a while before you can truly pass judgment on it. Unlike, say, a second LCD on the front of the camera, which was doomed from the start.

Also, how cool does this sound, just to read out loud:

The composite signal generated by the signal processing circuit is output to the liquid crystal display device of the finder apparatus. The liquid crystal display device displays an electronic subject image. The liquid crystal display device is positioned between the pentagonal prism and the eyepiece lens.

It sounds like it’s from the future!

Anyhow, there’s a more detailed breakdown over at Photography Bay. It’s a pro feature to be sure, but if they can get their foot in the door with this, it might be a true “Canon-only” feature, a hard thing to come by these days.

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It was established at some point that Crisitano Ronaldo, the Portuguese international who gets red cards for Real Madrid, can kick a soccer ball at around 130 km/h. People keep track of this for some reason. This here robot… thing can kick a soccer ball at more than 200 km/h. Somewhere, Mr. Ronaldo is quietly sobbing to himself, on top of a huge pile of euros.

BP Castrol Japan created the machine, which doesn’t yet have a name. Also left unexplained: why a company would make such a contraption. What, for a couple of days worth of “and in other news” reports on TV? Eh, who cares. A fun story is a fun story.

The company said it will bring the machine to South Africa in order to expose it to a wider audience, one that knows who Cristiano Ronaldo is.

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Filed under: Multimedia, Peripherals, iPhone, App Store, Music

Belkin has announced the release of their latest FM transmitter for the iPhone and iPod touch, the TuneCast Auto Live. You know these things — they plug into your iPhone or iPod touch’s dock connector, and then send a local FM signal out to your car’s radio, enabling wireless transmission of your music or podcasts. I’ve got a Belkin transmitter already (the TuneCast Auto — more on that in a second), but I’m interested in this new one, because it can be used with a free iPhone app [iTunes link] that will actually use your iPhone’s GPS information to find a good station for you right away.

That seems helpful — my current issue with my Belkin is that here in Los Angeles, where the radio stations are almost as thick as the fast food joints, I can’t seem to find a solid station to keep it on that’s clear enough to actually listen to. If you’re in a busy urban area, there’s so many signals flying around that these transmitters are more or less useless. I don’t know if the GPS app would help me (seems like I’d have to keep changing the car’s station while I move even if I could find a clear signal here in the city), but if you’re in the market for an FM transmitter and are in a place with a little more room on the radio dial, the $79.99 TuneCast is as good a choice as any. As for me, I’ll probably go for an aux hookup straight into my dash the next time I have some car audio upgrade money.

TUAWBelkin releases FM transmitter with iPhone app for finding clear stations originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorcycle, Design/Style, Luxury

Every year, Harley-Davidson breaks out the good ol’ Accessories Catalog to bedeck a few of its most desirable models in a veritable smorgasbord of chrome, leather and outlandish paint schemes. See here, here, here and here for photo evidence of this undeniable fact. For 2010, though, The Motor Company is taking a darker approach to its highest-end model, the CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide.

H-D slathers the dark on its new CVO model, with the whole Gloss Black Rumble Collection making its appearance on the Glide. In total, the Crimson Mist Black / Dark Slate (with flame graphics, naturally) motorcycle comes with approximately 185 unique black parts, components and accessories, which join a black and chrome Screamin’ Eagle Twin Cam 110 engine (that’s 1803cc and 115 pound-feet of torque, H-D’s biggest and most powerful factory V-twin) and a six-speed Cruise Drive transmission to complete the nearly chromeless motif.

Harley’s whole bag of techno tricks are also featured on the CVO Ultra, including a 160-watt CD/AM/FM/WB/MP3 Advanced Audio System by Harman-Kardon, CB and intercom, passenger audio with controls, cruise control and standard XM Radio. Finally, the HD-specific Garmin Road Tech zūmo 660 GPS unit with touch-screen display tells you where to point the handlebars.

Want one? Harley-Davidson only plans to build 999 CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide in 2010, each with a base price of $36,499, which makes this the most expensive model in Harley’s entire lineup this year. Check out our high-res image gallery below and click past the break for the complete press release.

[Source: Harley-Davidson]

Continue reading 2010 Harley-Davidson CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide goes Dark

2010 Harley-Davidson CVO Ultra Classic Electra Glide goes Dark originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Performance, Hatchback, Citroën

Citroën DS3 – Click above for high-res image gallery

Citroën’s got big plans for its DS3. Not only is the premium hatchback launching the new DS line for the French automaker, but the vehicle itself is set to breed some serious performance variants. Now, following a batch of spy shots showing a rally-prepped version of the DS3 comes reports that parent company PSA is considering giving the green light to a street-legal performance version. So with the likes of the Alfa MiTo and upcoming Audi A1 closing in, the Mini Cooper S has been put on notice yet again.

Just how close to home will the prospective DS3 hot hatch hit? Considering that the Citroën shares its PSA/BMW co-developed engine with the Mini, pretty close. As it is, the top-of-the-line DS3 packs a 154-horsepower version of the 1.6-liter four, hitting 60 in an admirable 7.3 seconds. With output expected to come between 170 and 200 hp, the hottest DS3 could not only take on the Cooper S, but also other hot hatches like the SEAT Ibiza Cupra and Clio Renaultsport 200, to name just a few. Sources peg its launch for some time next year, so stay tuned.

[Source: PistonHeads]

Report: Citroen targeting Mini Cooper S with DS3 hot hatch originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a little over three years of rappy hunting and MAG feeding, Phantasy Star Universe’s PlayStation 2 and PC servers are about to permanently go offline. The developers recently tossed up a note on the game’s official website announcing a shutdown date of March 31, 2010.

Anyone who still has a Phantasy Star Universe subscription as of January 29 will be able to continue playing the game for free until the servers go down in March. No additional subscriptions may be purchased following the January 29 cutoff date, however.

The Xbox 360 version of Phantasy Star Universe remains unaffected by these closures. In fact, Sega has pledged to continue offering further content updates and support for customers on Microsoft’s console.

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