Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play (video)

Great graphics are often a component of great video games, but fancy physics can help too, and last week Havok announced that it was bringing those to Android, along with all of the requisite development tools. That means smartphones with Android 2.3 or up can potentially enjoy the same procedural animations and pretty dresses that we’ve enjoyed on PC and home console for years, and as the first gamer-centric smartphone with Gingerbread on board, Sony Ericsson’s forthcoming Xperia Play got to be the first to demo them. Watch a pickup plow through road hazards, a gorilla get catapulted across a football field, and an Assassin’s Creed-esque warrior run, jump and climb with the best of them in the video above. Oh, and just so you know, we got a (very brief) hands-on with all three demos in person at GDC 2011 last week, and each was practically enjoyable enough to be an Android game of its own. The realistically bouncing ball’s in your court, developers. Don’t let us down.

Continue reading Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play (video)

Havok physics engine comes to Android 2.3, demoed on Xperia Play (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 23:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GSM Arena  |  sourceSony Ericsson Product Blog  | Email this | Comments

Samsung says Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still on schedule, iPad 2 be darned

Samsung may have been humbled by Apple’s iPad 2, but the company’s apparently not letting that affect its plans — without directly refuting statements by a Samsung VP that the upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 was “inadequate” or might be priced cheaper than originally intended, the company told the Yonhap News Agency that the tablet will be released on schedule. In other words, the Honeycomb tablet’s not getting any thinner or lighter, but something’s gotta give, and Samsung’s not quite ready to say just what that is.

Samsung says Galaxy Tab 10.1 is still on schedule, iPad 2 be darned originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Things D  |  sourceYonhap News Agency  | Email this | Comments

ARCHOS to Unveil a Super Tablet at IFA 2011

We told you ARNOVA is ARCHOS’ new budget brand. Well, now we’re learning that ARCHOS has plans to take things up a notch and produce tablets on par with Apple’s iPad 2 and Motorola’s XOOM. According to a company rep. at CeBIT, ARCHOS will unveil a new high-end Android tablet at IFA this September. No […]

Handheld millimeter / microwave camera to see through walls, your underpants (video)

You know those scanners that peep your naughty bits at the airport? Well, a team of researchers have been working on a handheld camera that sports the same technology, and while they’re touting its future impact on stuff like cancer detection and aerospace engineering, we can’t help but squirm thinking about its Peeping-Tom potential. The camera currently takes 30 images per second by transmitting millimeter and microwaves to a "collector" on the other side of a subject, and then sends them to a laptop for real-time inspection. Aside from being able to see straight through your BVDs, it can also be used to detect defects in spacecraft insulation, find termites lurking in the walls of your apartment, and help in the diagnosis of skin disease. The camera's creators are working on a smaller, one-sided version of the device that could have mass-market appeal — we just hope this thing stays in R&D long enough for us to get our bikini bodies back. Check out a video of its G-rated abilities after the break.

Continue reading Handheld millimeter / microwave camera to see through walls, your underpants (video)

Handheld millimeter / microwave camera to see through walls, your underpants (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  sourceMissouri University of Science and Technology  | Email this | Comments

Chuck & Beans

I’ll be back with new Chuck & Beans cartoons on March 18th. Until then here’s an old one you may have missed, posted back when the blog was getting tens of visitors every week. -brian

Conan O’Brien produces a more honest iPad 2 promotional video

Feeling a little underwhelmed by this week’s iPad 2 launch? This promotional video recently unearthed by Conan O’Brien goes some distance in explaining why this might be… and why you’re probably not alone. But just in case you did buy into the hype, don’t feel bad: it’s easy to get suckered by a smooth talker with “a non-specific ethnic accent.” See for yourself after the break.

Continue reading Conan O’Brien produces a more honest iPad 2 promotional video

Conan O’Brien produces a more honest iPad 2 promotional video originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Could we be on the verge of inventing tractor beams? [Lasers]

Ferengi smugglers shake in their boots as the first step towards tractor beams is announced. In the past, lasers have been used only to impart forward momentum to their targets. They hit objects with photons, and those objects move forward with the beam of light (or burst into flame). Now scientists in Hong Kong have figured out how to use a special kind of laser to pull objects toward the laser’s source. More »







Angry Birds passes 30 million downloads on Android

Rovio’s Angry Birds has been copied by many other mobile game developers but none of them come close to the number of downloads. In 2010 Angry Birds topped Apple’s App Store as the top paid app. As for their Android app, Rovio’s Peter Vesterbacka announced at the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) that the free-with-ads […]

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  3. Video: Angry Birds vs. Evil Pigs

Samsung finds parts of Galaxy Tab 10.1 ‘inadequate’ compared to iPad 2, reconsiders pricing

Whether you love or loathe Apple, you have to be happy with the company’s aggressive upgrade of the iPad. It has led to Samsung, purveyor of an Android 3.0 tablet by the name of Galaxy Tab 10.1, to look more closely at its own hardware and pricing model and, according to executive VP Lee Don-Joo, “improve the parts that are inadequate.” We don’t know what those are, specifically, however he notes that “Apple made [the iPad 2] very thin” and also goes on to say that Samsung will be rethinking its pricing strategy with the Tab 10.1. It was originally going to cost more than the 7-inch Galaxy Tab, but in light of Apple’s new product, Samsung might have to cut into its profit margins… or maybe even forgo profits altogether to make its new Tab a success.

Samsung finds parts of Galaxy Tab 10.1 ‘inadequate’ compared to iPad 2, reconsiders pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AFP (PhysOrg)  |  sourceYonhap News Agency  | Email this | Comments

Thrutu for Android Lets You Do More than Talk When You’re On the Phone [Apps]

If you can use Thrutu on your Android phone, it's pretty neat. When you're on a phone call, the app gives you a sliding drawer on top of your dialer to give you easy access to send pictures, contact info, location, etc. to the person you're talking to. It's quick and painless—just think about how many times you've tried to track down a phone number or explained directions on the phone, none of those situations would be as easy as just directly sending what you need. More »







Microsoft tablet OS not coming until fall 2012?

We’ve caught wind of many whispers about a Windows designed specifically for tablets, but the latest scuttlebutt states we won’t get to add them to our mobile arsenal anytime soon — Bloomberg‘s anonymous sources report that Microsoft won’t release a tablet operating system until the 2012 back-to-school season, and will only begin to publically test the OS at the end of this year. That suggests not only a timeframe, but also a likely plan — it’s not hard to imagine Microsoft would enjoy a slice of the educational market before iPads replace textbooks entirely at schools with cash to burn. Of course, Dell seems to think there’ll be a Windows 8 slate in January of next year.

Microsoft tablet OS not coming until fall 2012? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments