Nextel has released a new high-tech toy for Nascar fans. The company said that its Fanview device, essentially a video streaming handheld, is available for purchase.
Loyal Xbox 360 owners who have managed to climb into the Gamerscore stratosphere will soon be able to get some sort of benefit for their efforts, when Microsoft opens up its Reward Challenge program later this month, with smaller awards available for users who haven't logged as much time on their console.
Comcast and Facebook are partnering up to gather and share user-created videos in a new television series. Starting in March, Facebook users can submit video diary segments which will be viewable on both Facebook and Comcast's Ziddio.com site. The videos will also be viewable on Comcast's ON DEMAND service. Some of the best videos will be used in a new television series called "Facebook Diaries".
Microsoft Casual Games has unveiled a new revenue sharing plan that would let game developers grab a share of in-game advertising money. The new "Ad-Share" program will give a percentage of gross advertising revenues in the form of monthly checks. Microsoft estimates that annual amount could be substantial and thinks the top five MSN Games could pay out $250,000 a year.
Televisions and wine don't mix, or do they? Samsung has upgraded their Bordeaux television set which now has a transparent base that looks like a crystal wine glass. The television has a high 10,000 to 1 contrast ratio and will be available in 32-inch and 40-inch models.
Remember all the grief your parents gave you for playing video games? Well now you can tell them that action-based games can actually improve eyesight. According to a University of Rochester study, people who played action games for a few hours each day improved their vision by as much as 20%.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs is trying to drive a stake into the music industry's heart by calling for the end of copy protected music. He said that abolishing DRM-protected music would be, "the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."
The colorful, outspoken lawyer/activist Jack Thompson, well known for his lawsuits against the companies behind violent video games, is finding himself on the other side of the courtroom, facing allegations of unprofessional conduct and disobeying a judge's order.
Kodak today announced its plans to launch a series of inkjet printers next month, officially entering the race currently dominated by HP, Canon, and Lexmark, after years of talking about the possibility of getting into the printer market.
The game that spawned a sequel, a pinball game, and two remakes, is now available through the Wii's digital store, as Super Mario World, the title that introduced Yoshi, has been added to the Virtual Console, alongside a Sega Genesis and a TurboGrafx-16 game.
After an unsuccessful release for the Gamecube, Konami's popular Dance Dance Revolution is coming back to Nintendo in a newly announced Wii title, making use of the system's motion sensitive technology with the requisite dance pad to offer a full body experience.
The first eight months of the format wars ended in a near stalemate, though the hardware front saw a slim victory for HD DVD, with a new report from NPD Group saying that high-def video players ranked in at 52% for HD DVD and 48% for Blu-ray.
There were many battles being closely monitored during the big holiday shopping season of 2006. The Wii won the battle of the new systems, overtaking the PS3, but the Xbox 360 outpaced them both. However, according to the latest figures from research firm NPD, it's the PS2 that deserves the real accolade, having sold more units during the final month of the year than any other console.
The recent addition of Mario Kart 64 to the Wii's Virtual Console digital download store showed what could be a big flaw in future releases to the Nintendo 64 channel, as technical problems prevented the implementation of part of the game's save mechanism.
Compulsive YouTube watching is forcing many Internet users to skip other chores, but Google would be making a mistake if wanted to cash in by including in-video ads. According to a survey done by Harris Interactive, the vast majority of YouTube viewers would visit less if video ads were included. 73% of frequent viewers would visit less, while 31% of viewers would visit "a lot less".
The National Football League is now giving the thumbs up to churches who want to show the Super Bowl on extra large television screens. In the past weeks, the league has gone after churches and threatened legal action to stop Super Bowl viewing on greater than 55-inch television sets. The league now says such viewings are OK as long as no admission fee is charged.
