How did the current home-console controllers come to be? How have they evolved? You may have noticed some similarities between the current generation controllers, or between them and the previous generations of controllers. So, how do they all tie together?
Lets try to find out. I’ve put together a chart, or controller family-tree, that tries to connect all the current console controllers with their predecesors. Firstly, I don’t think anyone else has tried to do something similar on the web, and second, none of the manufacturers actually come out and tell you who they’re borrowing ideas from. This means, a lot of the information presented here is my opinion. I try to keep things accurate, using facts that I know, but also making some of my own conclusions where no hard evidence is available.
There are still a number of gaps in the family tree, as a lot of controllers are still missing from the chart. Eventually, I will try to fill in some of the holes. Current things that are missing are controllers I couldn’t get my hands on, controllers from less popular consoles, and most of the 8-bit era - which I plan to add in the future, but left out for now because there isn’t an obvious connection between the early 8-bit era and later controllers.
Sanyo announced a new rear view backup camera system today that drivers of large vans and SUVs will find appealing. I drive a large vehicle and it is impossible to see what is below the glass and close to the bumper. Anyone that lives in a neighborhood with lots of kids or has kids themselves knows that many little ones are not tall enough to see from inside a big vehicle if they are close to the bumper.
Sanyo’s new CCA-BC200 Rear View Backup Camera System with AirCam technology uses digital processing to deliver accurate and natural looking images of what is behind you. That means you don’t have to look at strangely distorted fish-eye type images.
The only bad part about this system is that a monitor for viewing the video feed isn’t included, nor is a monitor an option. The Sanyo system relies completely on the fact that many vehicles have onboard displays for DVDs and GPS navigation. If your vehicle lacks a display of some sort you will need to add one for the Sanyo system to work. Pricing for the camera system is $299.99 and it is available now.
Some significant improvements on the horizon for the Apple iPhone :
There will be a build in file browser like the new finder in leopard for sorting through files
There will be a disk mode
The reason that there currently isn’t a file browser + way to save files from web is because there isn’t a file browser on the phone, and they wanted to release the same one that’s gonna be in the upcoming leopard OS, complete with coverflow.
There will even be a special version of “iWork” so you can show your keynote presentations
So anyway a FULL file browser is coming so you can browse just like windows mobile explorer only in the cool way leopard’s file browser is
Full spotlight like search is coming too
Widescreen keyboard support will be coming in every app, not just safari
Copy & Paste, Select Text is coming too (clipboard)
Also mail will see an upgrade so you can add accounts without doing so through itunes.
Most of the delays in this is because iTunes is the App Windows & Mac users are familar with for iTunes, so Apple didn’t want to do a bad interface that had a file browser hacked into iTunes.
When Leopard FINAL release comes out, plugging in the iPhone will pop open a special window in the finder that has areas for dragging all your files like a file explorer only more advanced and designed specifically for the iPhone, it will make sure that it works so iTunes knows how much space is for data, and how much is for “iTunes” stuff.
Apple will be putting iChat on the phone, very, very soon, before Leopard.
Real Applications are coming to the phone shortly.
These are all updates that will be software based for the iPhone you already have, so give it a little bit of time. In the meantime enjoy the features it already has.
Oh and also there will be Photo Sharing, just like in iPhoto how you can check an option to let other people on the network view your photos.
He said .Mac account would eventually sync your accounts to the .Mac server as well from the phone, and so forth.
Simplified File sharing when on WIFI networks through bonjour (auto ip discovery) is coming, so once the file system software is up, your buddy in the same room will be able to navigate to his file browser > Network, and grab a file off your phone that you are sharing.
Ringtones will be coming very, very soon.
The Camera Software will get upgraded soon to have stabilization (software based)
Flash is coming eventually, it’s just a matter of handling it in a way so when i page has dozens of flash apps running at the same time the page doesn’t slow to a crawl, so they have to take the Adobe Flash and make some customizations, including for security.
Anyway, enjoy the great mobile phone for now, and look forward to all the great stuff coming really, really soon. I can’t WAIT for the new file browser so I can store stuff on this device!!Just remember Windows Mobile has been out or a long time, even everytime a new WM phone comes out all the apps that are supposed to work, have to be tweaked or don’t fit on the screen or some bullcrap, so realize this is just Apple’s very first OS release for mobile Phone. Apple has lots of treats instore for all of you…
Guess what I want for Christmas! The embedded video makes this look so awesome I can’t even qualify for words. The person’s face after getting zapped? Priceless. I can only hope that he was compensated justly for being shot at with electrified bullets while being videotaped.
He is being shot at with the brand new X-Rep, a self contained arrow-taser-bullet with a range of up to 100 feet. Popular Mechanics says “The XREP punctures the target with multiple probes, and then unspools to dangle from the unfortunate belligerent’s body, all the while applying Taser’s infamous rapid-fire electrical pulses. As an added bonus, any helpful passerby trying to yank the XREP out of the target before the 20-second discharge cycle is finished will also get zapped, thanks to a ‘hand-trap wire’ that’s nestled in among the other hanging cables.” So hot, those facial expressions should be rated NC-17.
I am a serious PC hardware geek, if you like your PC hardware too you will love this clock from Motherboard Gifts & More. The clock measures in at 14 inches and is available in several colors.
You can choose from green, blue, and red faces for the clock and white or black backgrounds. The face of the clock is an actual cut out from a motherboard of a computer. On close inspection you can see all the leads in the board that conducted electricity to computer components before the board became a clock.
Perhaps the only draw back to the clock is that there are no numbers. I know for some, like my wife, it completely ruins the time telling experience when a clock lacks numbers. I really like the ones with the black background, it makes the bright colored motherboard cut outs look like they glow. Pricing for the clock is $59.99.
Today at Comic Con, Microsoft announced that their XBOX 360 HD DVD add-on would drop $20 to $179. We guess they mean “at all retailers” because we’ve seen that price before. In addition, buyers between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30 will be able to pick 5 free movies—though out of a collection of jsut 15 popular titles. The deal is similar to the $299 with five free movies offer that’s been out for some time, though obviously the combination of the two deals makes for a reasonable upgrade. Personally, I’d rather see Xbox LIVE get a decent downloadable movie collection that consisted of more than Beerfest and Beerfest II: The Hangover.
Wake you up every morning with an Explosion! (not that kind of explosion)To stop the bomb, you have to pull out just one code from three. The safety code is set randomly every morning.
Battery: AAx3 (not included)
Size: 170×120x40mm
Next Shipping day: end of october
At a time when most portable 2.5-in. USB drives are maxing out in the 160GB to 200GB range, Fujitsu decided to set it’s own amazing 300 GB platter to the task. Today it unveiled a 300 GB bus-powered external drive that should be in stores by September. It’s got a 16-point omnidirectional shock mounting plus an integrated USB 2.0 cable for easy access. The software suite includes Apricorn Inc.’s EZ Gig II for Windows backup-ware, Second Copy 2000 for file management and Cryptainer for encryption. Total cost of ownership? $229.
Remember playing with legos? I loved getting those huge kits and building all the variations shown on the box, then proceeding with some of my own “freestyle” builds.
[SOREN] , like most of us here, is a big lego fan. His creativity has taken what those paper illustrations told us what to create, to a new level.
Soren’s work is displayed on his Flickr account (see link) Some of my favorites are these japanese style mecha robots.
Great work man, who wants to go with me to TOYS’R'US for some legos? Anyone?
