Gran Turismo fans probably already use one of Logitech’s racing wheels with the newest installation of the series, Gran Turismo 5. After all, the Logitech Driving Force GT wheel has been the official racing wheel of Gran Turismo 5 since Gran Turismo 5 Prologue released almost 3 years ago. A few months ago, Thrustmaster announced that it was tapped by Polyphony Digital to make a new flagship peripheral for Gran Turismo 5. The new wheel by Thrustmaster features a powerful motor for strong and realistic force feedback, large metal paddle shifters, and the addition of a dedicated clutch pedal. Strangely, the horn button at the center of the wheel and the real time adjustment knob and buttons have been removed.
The quality is top notch; I tried the wheel out on one of the game’s rally circuits. The demo was set with a strong centering force so turning the wheel to quite some effort. Every rock on the dirt road could be felt through the wheel. I don’t think the motor in the Logitech Driving Force GT could twist the wheel out of my hands like this one could.
The pedals are also metal and have a very realistic response and feel. The pedals can be used in either a suspended GT style or a floor mounted F1 style. Thrustmaster did not have the optional stick shift attachment for the wheel at CES because Gran Turismo 5 does not support clutch pedals just yet. Thrustmaster confirmed that an update for clutch pedal and stick shift peripherals is on the way. The wheel is scheduled to launch later this year with a price of approximately $600 without the stick shift attachment. The Logitech Driving Force GT remains to be supported and recommended for Gran Turismo 5 but for those seeking the very best driving simulation money can buy in the gaming market, the Thrustmaster T500RS is a good place to look.
This morning CEO of Ford Motor Company, Alan Mulally, introduced the Ford Focus Electric. The vehicle is Ford’s first full production electric vehicle. The Focus Electric has the same basic shape as the regular gasoline engine version of the vehicle and seats 5. The car is powered by a liquid cooled lithium ion battery pack with a capacity of 23kilowatt hours. The battery can be fully charged within 3 hours when charged from a 240 volt source. The Focus Electric can reach a top speed of 84mph but the speedometer in the demonstration unit went up to 120mph. An official range of the vehicle on a single charge was not released but Ford hinted that it may be up to 100 miles on a full charge depending on terrain and driving style. Fully loaded, the Focus Electric has a leather interior, Sony sound system, Microsoft Sync, and a new service from Ford called MyFordMobile. MyFordMobile will allow users to interface with the vehicle from smartphones running iOS and Android operating systems. Users can control when the Focus Electric charges to minimize utility costs. MyFordMobile will be free for the first five years. The car also has a strong cloud presence with synchronized navigation bookmarks. Something not seen in other vehicles before is the addition of driving achievements. To unlock achievements, drivers must complete certain goals such as braking in an efficient manner or reducing their carbon footprint by one ton.
In order to accommodated electric vehicles on the road, Ford pledged to build 12,000 new charging stations over the next 18 months across the United States. These new charging stations are said to be compatible with other electric vehicles from other manufacturers. For the home chargers, Ford announced Best Buy’s Geek Squad service would handle sales and installation of the in home chargers.
No release date was announced.
Over the past several years we have seen a wide variety of robotic exoskeleton concepts such as the military oriented unit from Sarcos and the HybridAssistiveLimb unit from Tsukuba University and Cyberdyne Inc. in Japan. Fortunately, Cyberdyne brought their HAL exoskeleton to CES for the first time this year. The HAL exoskeleton is being commercialized in Japan this year for use by people with mobility disabilities in the legs. Although the exoskeleton is being marketed as a rehabilitation device, the exoskeleton may be capable of enhancing the users strength tenfold. For now, only the exoskeleton for the legs was available for demonstration as the upper body portion is still in development. To control the exoskeleton, the user wears a set of electrodes which detect electrical impulses from nerves in the legs. When the user attempts to move their limbs, the system detects the corresponding nerve activity and activates the motors in the exoskeleton. Even if the user does not have the strength to completely move their leg, the exoskeleton detects the nerve activity and allows the user full movement.
I was allowed to try controlling the exoskeleton leg sections with the nerves in my arms. A simple strap is fitted around a muscle along with another electrode further down the arm to act as a reference. As I raised my arm, the leg motors in the exoskeleton reacted and moved. Normally, physical therapy sessions are required to get the HAL exoskeleton customized for the user so it was tricky to get the leg to stay between it’s fully open and closed positions. The most impressive part of the demonstration was the ability to control the robotic leg without actually moving my arm.
The HAL system is powered by an interchangeable and rechargeable battery pack mounted on the lower back. For normal walking, the HAL exoskeleton has sensors in the foot holder to detect the user’s stride.
With no availability dates set outside of Japan, a Cyberdyne representative expected to see HAL available in parts of Europe and eventually North America perhaps next year.
Steve Ballmer emphasized three important branches of Microsoft’s products and services. These are of course Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, and Windows 7. During his overview of Xbox 360 and Kinect’s incredible success over the holiday season, Ballmer told everyone that Kinect was projected to sell 5 million units but had in fact sold 8 million. After this, Ballmer showed what Kinect will allow people to do in 2011. Among Kinect’s new uses is AvatarKinect, a service available to Xbox Live Gold Members that allows people to control their Xbox Live Avatars using Kinect with very high detail. Things such as facial expressions and hand gestures can be tracked by Kinect and shown on the Xbox Live Avatar. Microsoft showed AvatarKinect being used in chat style program combining voice conferencing and Avatar interaction. Microsoft plans on making AvatarKinect available later this year.
Earlier today at the Panasonic press conference, Panasonic showed a tablet that they are working to release later this year. Yes, we know, it seems like everyone is showing tablets this CES. Like many other tablets shown today, the Vierra tablet is Android based. The tablet is designed to be used with a variety of services available on Panasonic’s Vierra televisions such as IPTV content, controlling the Vierra television, and web browsing. Details on the Vierra tablet were scarce with no official pricing information. The tablet was scheduled to be announced in Japan at a later time.
Panasonic did not hesitate to flex it’s manufacturing muscle by showing off new manufacturing plants for flat panel displays. As a result, Panasonic showed a new series of LED backlit LCD 3DTVs. These televisions are aimed towards gamers who what to take advantage of 3D with shutter glasses.
This afternoon at Casio’s press conference in the Venetian Hotel, Casio announced two new products which they hope will redefine how people use digital photography. The first thing they announced is a server based service called Casio Imaging Square. This new service allows people to make their images look more artistic. At first I was skeptical as some of the sample images shown looked like simple image filters that you see with webcam software everyday. However, some of the other images looked like what would take many hours tinkering in Photoshop. President and CEO of Casio, Kazuo Kashio emphasized that these effects are not simple filters are something completely new. Casio Imaging Square is not limited to just Casio cameras and said that their service could be used with other images. Casio also showed that they were planning a printing service which would allow people to order prints of pictures that they had created in Digital Imaging Square. However, I overheard a Casio representative talking to another member of the press say that Casio had no plans on making their printing service available in North America.
After announcing Digital Imaging Square, Casio unvieled their new TRYX camera. TRYX, which seems to be just a catchy name, is a small digital camera with a unique body design which allows the camera to be flipped and used in many different situations. The camera features a 12.1 megapixel sensor, 21mm wide angle fixed focus lens, 3 inch touch screen, and a built in micro HDMI port. Casio says the camera is capable of full HD 1920×1080 recording as well as a high speed movie mode capable of up to 240FPS. I got to use the TRYX briefly with what appeared to be prototype software. TRYX is scheduled to be launched sometime this year. With no official price announced, I overheard a Casio representative say the camera would be available for approximately $250 USD which makes it a solid upgrade over the cellphone camera you always have with you.
According to a new issue in the Android section of the Google Code site, SMS messages may be sent to the wrong phone number. Details on this problem are scarce and RotPod has never experienced this issue ourselves, but this is serious for any Android user. The issue has been starred by nearly 4000 Google Accounts and the page is riddled with hundreds of people complaining that this happens on a regular basis. The issue was reported to Google having occurred on a Nexus One device running Android 2.2 Froyo. It’s quite alarming that something like this can still be a problem given Android’s ever growing market share and popularity. (Although, I was also surprised by the Apple iPhone alarm issue during the transition from DST) Let us know if this has happened to you in the comments.
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It may seem like a long time ago by now, but do remember the Call of Duty Black Ops gameplay demo during the Microsoft keynote presentation? Mark Lamia was showing off one of the levels that take place in Vietnam, specifically the segment when you start in a tunnel as you make you way towards a helicopter to decimate the countryside. Early on, a friendly character jumps down and startles the player. Lamia, who was playing the game live in front of the audience shoots the friendly character to which the other character leading the way turns around and says something along the lines of “What the hell is wrong with you?”. At the time upon watching this, I was impressed with the level of scripting Treyarch had put into friendly fire situations like this.
Fast forward to November when Black Ops was released. I had been playing the game and got up to the same tunnel segment. Having remembered Lamia being startled causing friendly fire, I knew to watch out for Reznov. Just as I expected, Reznov jumped down, but what happened next threw me off. The same character leading away still turned around and said, “What the hell is wrong with you?”. I was confused because I hadn’t shot Reznov.
Now, if you’ve finished the campaign, you know that Reznov is all in Mason’s head. As this is revealed, the game actually goes back to the tunnel scene and replays your comrade asking what’s wrong with you. Now it became clear that Lamia shot Reznov during the E3 demo to protect the plot. It’s still entirely possible that Lamia shot Reznov thinking he was an enemy, but as he’s the studio head at Treyarch, I think it’s more likely he was trying to prevent spoilers before the game’s release.
[SPOILER ALERT] If you haven’t played through the Call of Duty Black Ops campaign yet get ready for major spoilers in the way of plot.
Continue reading ‘Why Mark Lamia shot Viktor Reznov at E3 2010′
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