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Today, Nintendo 3DS Specs, Launch Titles, And Release Date Become Final

January 19

Remember the Nintendo 3DS? It’s the newest DS handheld, takes 3D photographs on the back with 2 cameras, then has a front-facing 2D camera, displays them in 3D (and plays games in 3D without glasses), and has a feature which is terribly useful: you can change the depth of 3D that is seen, or turn it off completely. It comes in black or blue, has 2GB of SD card storage and is expandable, has a telescoping stylus, comes with a charging cradle, a home button to go back to the homescreen, and a horde of launch titles like Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D (yes!), Nintendogs + cats 3D, Kid Icarus, Madden Football, PES 2011 3D, and others.

Besides launch titles and specs, another thing that leaves you wondering is the software the 3DS uses. It’s typical Nintendo UI elements and such, and for example, the front-facing camera can take a picture of you to turn into a Mii, an activity log, pedometer, Face Raiders (takes a picture of your face to shoot in a gallery), augmented reality games, an improved Internet browser, 3D video player, and audio player. Besides core apps such as those, other features to make note of are StreetPass (connects to other 3DS units for gaming), SpotPass (connects to Wi-Fi hotspots for updating software and content), multiplayer that only requires one registration of the hardware with others, and a Nintendo eShop for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance titles that would run in an emulator.

Oh, and the price with release date? $249 on March 27th. Press release after the chop.
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So, Uh, The Nintendo 3DS Is Bad For Your Eyes, If You’re Less Than 6

December 29

Remember 3D? Of course you do, it’s still a current technology! The Nintendo 3DS would take everything you love about the ancient DSi and others, and add better graphics, 3D photo-taking, and 3D viewing while playing games without the need of glasses. This argument is pretty much like cellphone radiation, except Nintendo has come out and stated that it would ruin the eye development stages of anyone under the age of 6. A parental control feature would be present that would completely turn off the 3D feature, except, you’d only buy a 3DS for the 3D, right? We’ll follow along and see what happens when there are actual 3DS units out in the wild.

Via: Nintendo Warning, Giz

Texas Instruments Finishes Its 1.5 GHz Dual-Core OMAP Processor For Release In 2011

December 8

This is big news, even if you don’t understand what’s going on (which would be strange). Texas Instruments, a major provide of the chips for smartphones (besides Qualcomm who produces the Snapdragon) has announced its newsest processor, which is dual-core, runs at a default speed of 1.5 GHz, has the name of OMAP4440, a 1.25x graphics performance increase, support for 1080p video and glasseses-free 3D, two 12-megapixel cameras in parallel setup (3D photos would be possible), and a PowerVR SGX540 GPU.

If you still don’t understand what you just read, then read this: it’s sort of like stuffing a Core i7 in your smartphone *brain explodes*.

Texas Instruments will begin shipping the new processor in the second half of 2011 to manufacturers, so actual handsets with this technology should launch around the last quarter of next year. We can wait, can’t we? Via: OMAP4 TI

Nintendo 3DS Launch, Final Design, And Launch Games Are Revealed

September 29

In a press conference in Japan, Nintendo has finalized the Nintendo 3DS design, specs, launch dates across the world and games currently available for it.

Starting off, the 3DS will cost ¥25,000 in Japan ($299 converted) and will launch in February 26 of 2011, while the U.S and Europe get their models in March, for yet-to-be-disclosed prices. Each 3DS will come a charger stand, an AC adapter, a 10cm Nintendo 3DS touch pen, a 2GB SD card, six augmented reality cards as well as instruction booklets. Dimensions are 134mm by 74mm. It is 21mm thick and weighs 230 grams and has a top screen of 3.53 inches and with an liquid crystal display of 800 x 240 pixels, while the button screen is 3.02 inches with another LCD of 320 x 240 pixels.

The 3DS also will have its own built-in emulator, so it can play games from Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance systems by downloading the titles.

The design aspectis very nice; the stylus is now more shall we say, sexy, and the two colors available will be blue and black, to start. Bundled software in the 3DS are “Nintendo 3DS cameras,” “Nintendo 3DS sound,” Mii Studio,” “Chance Encounter Mii Plaza,” “AR Games” and “Book” (an eBook readers, perhaps?). The hardware also allows you to exchange data with other 3DS users (tag mode) and auto-download files via Wi-Fi in sleep mode (nice!).

At this link, you can see a video with all games currently in development, like Ocarina of Time 3D and other extremely well-known franchises.

On the Editor’s Note I’m very much liking the 3DS so far. I’ll buy one,or even get a review unit, then buy one after I’ve assured both the guys and gals reading this, and myself that the 3DS is truly awesome as Nintendo is marketing it.

Panasonic LUMIX GH2 Is Their 3D Shootin’ Micro Four Thirds

September 21

The LUMIX GH2 is a new Micro Four Thirds camera revealed by Panasonic today, because, you know, some mystical thing called Photokina 2010 is going on right now. The GH2 has support for a 3D lens, but its main weapon is its 16 megapixel LIVE MOS, and can take 14 megapixel pictures while taking 1080p HD video at 5 frames-per-second. It’s got a 3-inch, 460,000-dot swiveling LCD touchscreen that can be used for autofocus and such, and finally the price.

Oh. Ahem, it’s the flagship Micro Four Thirds for Panasonic now, so it’s gonna cost you — $899.95 for just the body; $999.95 for a package with a 14-42mm lens; and $1499.95 for a 14-140mm bundle this December. [Panasonic]

Nintendo 3DS is rushed into spotlight by Nintendo at E3

June 15

The Nintendo 3DS is exactly that: a 3D, Nintendo DSi. It is the only device on the planet that can display full 3D images without those nerdy 3D glasses. The 3.5″ 3D display allows for users to change the effectiveness of the 3D graphics, and can turn it on, off, or somewhere between that (middle on, middle off?). Otherwise the 3DS also has two cameras instead of one on the outer shell which allows for 3D image taking (yes, you read that), and one extra camera (making it three) on the inside, so you can your face (ugly or beautiful). Then there’s the gyropscope, motion sensor, and Wi-Fi connectivity that sniffs out free connections and gets on the network without your telling it to. Sounds like a Dilbert fantasy if you ask us, but rest assured, it’s all real. Except there’s no pricing, release date, or anything else for that matter.

Darn. It.

The Making Of Google’s Nexus One Part 2: OLED displays & 3D

February 7

Part 2 of the Nexus One video series is up on YouTube. As a quick recap, these videos are created by Google to tell you how the Nexus One was developed. While in the first part they focused on sound and the concept, the second part focuses on the 3.7-inch AMOLED display and 3D interface. So grab yourself some popcorn (small is perfect) and watch the video after the break. [Via Google Nexus One YouTube Channel]

Nexus One gets a 3D benchmark test and high-res pics

December 31

Once again the Nexus One has found itself in the crossfires of a camera, but this time a high-res camera, which means nearly crystal clear photos of the N1. In the astonishing video after the jump, there’s NSFW content from Californation, besides that, Qualcomm’s Neocore 3D benchmark test is tested on the Nexus One as well, so get some popcorn (or New Year’s champagne, if you prefer) and enjoy the video!

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