Microsoft opens up E3 with loud, energetic press conference

LOS ANGELES--Once again it's that time: Big hype for giant press conferences by the video game industry's biggest names.

In this case, we're talking Microsoft, and its annual Xbox 360 bacchanalia.

Here at E3, which kicks off unofficially Monday morning in the US, it's craziness, excitement and anticipation rolled into one, even though this event is scaled down considerably from the last time it was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center two years ago.

The doors opened at 9.30am, but because everyone coming into the press conference had to have a special "passport" with a barcode, the line to get in snaked oddly back from the doors to the exhibit hall, somewhat akin to the queues at Disneyland. It felt inefficient and unnecessary. But I suppose Microsoft wants to be sure that no one who's not supposed to be in the hall gets in. The upshot is that the scanning of the barcodes on people's passports was very slow.

And while this is the new-style E3, which is no longer the huge, massive, chaotic free-for-all it was through 2006, there are still some elements of the old event.

For example, while E3 in 2006 officially banned booth babes, the scantily clad women who stand around looking pretty and attracting all the male gamers, Microsoft had greeters throughout the hall who were clearly meant to play something of that same role. To be sure, they weren't dressed in skin-tight, skimpy outfits, but they were universally thin and pretty and it was hard to see that they were there for any other reason than eye-candy to keep the geeks in line happy while they waited for seemingly ever to get in.
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Belkin doubles down on wireless HDMI

Belkin has announced the pricing and planned availability for its FlyWire wireless HDMI accessory. The unit will eventually be available in two separate versions: A US$1,000 multi-room unit set to hit in October, and a stepdown US$700 model dubbed the R1, which is intended for single-room installations.

The FlyWire wireless HDMI kit garnered a nomination for the Best of CES Awards back in January, where it successfully demonstrated the ability to wirelessly transmit uncompressed high-definition video and audio. That would allow consumers to have their AV sources--cable/satellite box, game console, Blu-ray/DVD players, and the like--feed into the FlyWire transmitter, which then wirelessly streams the resulting audio and video to the FlyWire receiver connected to a wall-mounted flatscreen TV (or a projector on the ceiling), whether it's on the other side of the room or even (with the US$1,000 FlyWire) in a different room altogether.
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Microsoft Arc Mouse's accidental exposure

Seems like MaximumPC committed a big boo boo. After receiving a festive press kit from Microsoft, it immediately wrote about an unusual mouse in the catalog, only to be asked to take it down a couple of hours later as it missed the embargo date on the release.

But thanks to blogs and Google cache, you can now have a sneak peek at the latest notebook peripheral from the software giant. What's different about this device is that the rear end is hinged such that the mouse can be folded in two for easy storage, while the wireless radio eliminates the need for messy wires. According to the report, the peripheral is slated for retail shelves later in the year, with an expected price of US$59.95 (S$81.27). We've contact Microsoft on this leak and will keep you posted.

MTI Micro partners for fuel cell ultra-mobile PC

MTI Micro and Korean manufacturer NeoSolar late last week said they will build prototype ultra-mobile PCs powered by fuel cells.

The two companies said they will develop digital devices that use MTI Micro's Mobion fuel cells, which use liquid methanol cartridges as a fuel.

The development could lead to external chargers, snap-on attachments or devices with the Mobion fuel cell embedded in them, the companies said.

Fuel cells are being developed for a wide range of applications, from back-up electricity in buildings and data centers to transportation.

Rather drawing on tanks of hydrogen to make electricity in a fuel cell, MTI Micro's Mobion uses methanol. The advantage is that it's a liquid fuel that can be easily transported and store, say backers. The byproduct of using the fuel is water and carbon dioxide, in relatively small amounts.

MTI has signed on a partners to develop GPS devices and digital cameras that use its fuel cells.

Other consumer electronics manufacturers, including Sharp, are also developing direct methanol to fuel cell chargers.

Via CNET Crave

E3 2008: Game over for the Electronic Entertainment Expo?

This week brings us the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo--the video game tradeshow better known as E3. This is E3's 14th year, and my 10th time attending the show. But despite booming game sales and a firm foothold in the mainstream pop culture marketplace, the future of this gaming event is in jeopardy.

After years of big-budget extravagance for an audience of 60,000-plus visitors at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the game companies that form the backbone of the show felt their budgets were spiraling out of control, and even the large amount of media attention they got from E3 wasn't worth the millions they put into building massive booths and displays.

So for last year's show, the Entertainment Software Association (or ESA), the trade group that actually runs E3, decided to scale back the show, moving it from May to July, and from Los Angeles to a series of small hotels in Santa Monica. The attendance was cut as well--from around 60,000 people representing everything from TV and magazines to small blogs to retail workers at game stores--to a smaller list of around 5,000 invited guests.
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