Leno and NBC Strike 1 Hour 'Tonight' Deal
Jay Leno has made a new deal with NBC, which gives him "The Tonight Show" from 11:35 - 12:35.As we first reported, under the contract Jay had been working under, he was guaranteed the 10 PM hour. By moving him to 11:35, NBC was in breach of his contract and needed to negotiate a new deal, that is now done.
So Conan O'Brien is out, and Jay is restored.
The next Assassin’s Creed game will feature online multiplayer and be available by March 2011, Ubisoft said Wednesday.
In a press release detailing the company’s earnings projections, the publisher said that “a new episode” in the series (the numeral III was not used) will be released in the next fiscal year, which runs until March. Other big titles during the 2010-2011 window include Rayman Raving Rabbids 4, Driver, Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and the recently delayed Splinter Cell: Conviction.
In general, Ubisoft said it would release more games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the upcoming fiscal year, saying that the consoles promise “sustained sales growth in games for gamers.”
Meanwhile, about games not for gamers — that is, casual titles — Ubi said that it would release fewer Nintendo DS games due to slowing sales on the handheld. Ubi said that it expects its casual game sales to be down 50% for the current year — although it pointed out that this is in spite of the fact that sales of casual games on Wii, particularly its new game Just Dance, have been “relatively robust.”
Wow. I thought the UE10, at $1,000, was expensive. The new Ultimate Ears 18 Pro Custom Monitors from Ultimate Ears, however, earn their price.
First off, they're aimed at pros and prosumers -- so they are good enough to be Bono's on-stage in-ear system, but there's no reason avid fans can't save their pennies and use them as the ultimate iPod earphones.
Like previous Ultimate Ears custom models, the Ultimate Ears 18 Pro requires a visit to the audiologist, who will fill your ears with goo that quickly dries and forms the basis for your custom mold. This goo mold gets sent to Ultimate Ears' headquarters in Irvine, Calif., where it's used to build your custom pair.
So why the price increase? Um, each ear-piece has six -- SIX -- drivers. In other words, there are six different speakers dividing up the entire frequency range, each one fine-tuned to accurately deliver what it's assigned to. Your iPod earbuds have one really lousy driver per ear.
The whole kit comes with a rugged
aluminum "roadie box," and the noise isolation provided by these babies
is far more effective than any active noise cancellation on the market.
If the noise isolation is too intense for you, you can pay another $50
(Why not? You already dropped $1,350!) for a more open, "ambient" version. The Ultimate Ears 18 Pro ships in February, so you have plenty of time to sell the LCD TV you bought for the Super Bowl and buy these with the refund.
The Cell is the microchip that powers the Sony PlayStation 3, and it's a unique and very powerful processor that's responsible for the PS3's impressive graphics capabilities.
Now the chip is finding a home inside a television, courtesy of Toshiba, which showed off its slate of upcoming Cell-powered TVs at CES 2010.
The setup is complicated, to say the least: The Cell resides not in the panel itself but in a set-top box separate from the TV set. The box then connects wirelessly to the television. The breakout box also includes a DVR and other media server features, including a terabyte hard disk, internet video connectivity, and a host of connections to services like Netflix and Pandora. It's even got a DVD player built in.
Why drop a Cell in here? According to a story in TWICE, the Cell chip is 143 times faster than the processors in the typical LCD TV, which means viewers can expect to see a better, crisper picture no matter where the image is coming from. It can also adjust brightness levels dynamically in 512 different zones on the screen, will adjust color temperature to match room lighting, and can convert any 2D content to 3D in real time, without additional equipment (except, of course, for standard 3D goggles).
There was no immediate word on pricing. Availability is set only for "later this year."
Toshiba has been a huge, if inexplicable, fan of the Cell chip for years. Most recently it experimented with putting a Cell processor in a laptop. That plan ultimately didn't pan out, though, and Toshiba killed the Cell-powered line after about a year.
I saw several of Toshiba's Cell TVs in person at CES and wholly agree that they look great... but are they 143 times better than your typical LCD TV? Not hardly, but as content sources improve in resolution and features (the 3D angle could be a biggie), perhaps we'll see the Cell difference in action.
Volkswagen has gone public on plans for a coupe variant of the next-generation Jetta with the unveiling of a near-to-production-ready concept on Monday at the Detroit auto show.
Dubbed the New Compact Coupe (NCC), the new two-door presages the look and mechanical layout Volkswagen plans to adopt on a new front-wheel-drive model to be built at its Puebla plant in Mexico as part of ongoing plans to further penetrate the U.S. market.
Conceived primarily for North America--which does not receive the Volkswagen Scirocco, owing to the high cost of importing it from Palmela, Portugal, where it is assembled alongside the Eos--Volkswagen says a production version of the NCC could also be sold in other key markets as part of the sixth-generation Jetta lineup, which will also include a similarly styled sedan and wagon.
All three future Jetta models are expected to share the same edgy styling and detailing revealed by the NCC. However, the upcoming coupe is set to boast its own unique front-end design, a faster windshield angle, frameless doors and widened tracks in a move similar to that used by BMW in differentiating the 3-series coupe from its four-door sedan sibling.
"We didn't just want to put two doors on a Jetta. Buyers expect more from a coupe these days. The changes are subtle, but they help provide the NCC with its own visual flavor," said Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen brand design.
At 178.5 inches in length, 70.1 inches in width and 55.6 inches in height, the NCC adheres closely to the dimension of today's Jetta. But with a rear track that has been lengthened by more than an inch and a slightly lower ride height, it boasts a more planted stance that is further enhanced on the Detroit show car by 19-inch alloys shod with 235/35 section Goodyear Eagle F1 tires.
The NCC's drivetrain provides the first clues to how Volkswagen plans to add a gasoline-electric hybrid option to selected volume selling front-wheel-drive models, including the Golf and the Jetta, from 2014 onward. At the heart of the new two-door is the German carmaker's popular Twincharger engine. The transversely mounted supercharged and turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder delivers 150 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque.
The direct-injection unit is supported by a brushless electric motor integrated into the gearbox within the left-hand side of the engine bay. With 27 hp and 103 lb-ft, it draws electricity from a 1.1 kilowatt/hour lithium-ion battery housed in the floor of the trunk to boost the NCC's overall output to 177 hp and 280 lb-ft.
Channeling the combined outputs to the front wheels is a specially adapted version of Volkswagen's latest seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The wet-sump unit, engineered to handle up to 500 Nm of torque, has been modified to include automatic stop/start and brake-energy recuperation.
Volkswagen has engineered its new hybrid system to allow electric-only propulsion, albeit for short distances only owing to the small capacity of the battery. In electric mode, the gaoline engine not only shuts off but is also disengaged by the clutch to reduce mechanical drag in a so-called "coast down" mode.
Volkswagen isn't revealing how much the system weighs but claims the NCC will hit 62 mph from standstill in 8.1 seconds on the way to a top speed of 141 mph.
1. Ford Sync, Audi MMI, Kia Uvo: Best in Show
Ford rocked forward with a new version of Sync (photo top) with Bluetooth, USB music connector, voice input, three ways to access the Internet from every seat in the car (laptop aircard, cellphone data stream, WiFi in your garage or rest area), and rocker switches on the steering wheel using the same layout as the game pad or cellphone rocker you already know how to use. Audi, tucked away in the nVidia booth, showed its next-generation MMI, or multimedia interface (photo above) with an iDrive-like control wheel and an Alps touchpad so you can enter text one character at a time, such for a destination; sometimes two or three characters are all you need for a unique destination name (A-L-B in New Mexico would take you to Albuquerque). Audi's MMI display uses an nVidia chipset to keep the screen updated intantly. Microsoft with its Windows Automotive area showed Ford Sync cars and others using similar technologies such as Fiat's Blue & Me, the precursor to Sync. And Kia showecase Uvo (pronounced YOO-voe, as in "your voice"), fruit of the Hyundai-Kia-Microsoft partnership. This was the newest, hottest, most clearly useful technology of CES.
2. 3D TV: Triumph of Vendor Hope Over User Reality?
Everybody showed off 3D TV, where two slightly overlaid, slightly out of-register images take on three dimensions when you don a pair of special goggles. But will 3D be must-see TV? If you saw Need for Speed in 3D (also in that nVidia booth), you know it's a winner for gaming on PC monitors and maybe on big TVs. I've been around a couple racetracks and, seeing them in 3D, it's almost like being there minus the smell of overheated brakes. 3D also works for porn, which I didn't see being demonstrated at CES, and it wasn't for lack of investigation on my part. 3D probably works for specialty videos and spectacular movies (Avatar). But for mainstream TV? We have a dozen friends over to watch the Super Bowl; there, 3D glasses would get in the way of what's more a social than TV-watching event. Plus, BYO would have to include 3D goggles, not just beer, if company came over. On the other hand, if 3D comes as a no-extra-cost feature of higher-end TVs, and mostly the TV is used for traditional programs, it's something worth having. HDTV was a big thing; 3D isn't quite in that league.
3. eBooks Approach Critical Mass
eBooks are coming. Lower prices will help. There will be enough material soon, especially as Amazon sells book-plus-eBook combos. The problem remains: Users want color, especially for school textbooks. They also want long battery life, which means monochrome systems, and they'd like screens to update faster. This is almost ready for prime time.
4. Overabundance of iPod / iPhone cases
You couldn't walk more than two booths in the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall without running into a purveyor of cases for Apple iPods and iPhones: hardshell, softshell; plastic, silicone, neoprene; solid color, silkscreen, dye sublimation. There must be 10 times as much iPod case production capacity as there will ever be demand. There was similar optimism and excess, just not wretched excess, among makers of sub-$50 Bluetooth earpieces, booster batteries for cellphones and iPods, and universal transformers. Half the vendors will be gone in a year, or selling something else.
5. Long Decline of Aftermarket Car Audio Continues
Automakers build in more and more electronics. There are very few cars left with easily replaced DIN and Double-DIN radios. Order a new car with premium audio and the speakers and amps are pretty good, too. All of which meant: fewer car AV booths, smaller AV booths, and fewer booth babes. The species isn't extinct, though.
On 'Tonight Show,' Conan O'Brien Jokes About Network Tension, Jay Leno Moving Back to Old Time Slot, Destination Unknown for Conan O'Brien
Hours after releasing a statement that he will not do "The Tonight Show" if his new airtime is 12:05 a.m., late night comedian Conan O'Brien took to the airwaves pulling no punches. After receiving more applause than usual, O'Brien urged his fans to settle down, quipping that "I may not have that much time."
His employer, NBC, had planned to unceremoniously oust the host from his 11:35 p.m. ET time slot come February to make room for a Jay Leno program.
"My name is Conan O'Brien and I may soon be available for children's parties," he announced.
He then reminisced about watching the "Tonight Show" as a child. "I remember watching Johnny Carson and thinking, someday I'm going to host that show for seven months," he said.
But O'Brien, seemingly uninterested in currying favor with NBC, let one of his staff writers, Deon Cole, deliver some of his harsher barbs. In a racy bit, Cole compared O'Brien to a prostitute and the network to his pimp.
"Is your job making people happy before they go to sleep?" Cole asked O'Brien. "Has Charlie Sheen ever been on your couch?"
Verteran NBC newsman Tom Brokaw was O'Brien's first guest of the evening and started by comparing himself to the crazy old uncle who gets wheeled out to a family reunion without realizing a feud was brewing.
"I also understand your anger and I wish you only happiness in your life," Brokaw told O'Brien. "It's hard for me to imagine you not a member of the family."
In the statement released today, the late night comedian did not make clear whether he plans to stay with NBC. In the wake of releasing his statement, the Internet rallied around O'Brien, turning him into a trending topic on Twitter, with fans voicing support for "Team Conan."
Below, the full text of O'Brien's statement.
People of Earth:
In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.
Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over "The Tonight Show" in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.
But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my "Tonight Show" in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.
Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the "Tonight Show" to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the "Tonight Show" has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the "Tonight Show" into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. "The Tonight Show" at 12:05 simply isn't the "Tonight Show." Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the "Late Night" show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of "The Tonight Show." But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the "Tonight Show," I believe nothing could matter more.
There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.
Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.
Yours,
Conan
NBC executive confirms Jay Leno's nightly prime-time show ending next month.
PASADENA, Calif. -- NBC decided to end the Jay Leno experiment when some of its affiliates started talking about dropping the nightly prime-time show, its top entertainment executive said Sunday.
NBC Universal Television Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin said Sunday that Leno's nightly prime-time show will end with the beginning of the Winter Olympics on Feb. 12. NBC wants Leno to do an 11:35 p.m. show each night, a return to his old time slot, Gaspin said.
Gaspin said despite lower ratings for NBC at 10 p.m. compared with last year, the network was making money off the show.
But affiliates were upset that the show was leading fewer viewers into their late news programs, costing them significant advertising revenue. Some affiliates told NBC in December they would go public soon about their complaints if a change wasn't made, or even take Leno's show off the air.
"The drumbeat started getting louder," Gaspin said.
Gaspin has proposed moving Conan O'Brien's "Tonight" show to 12:05 a.m., and Jimmy Fallon's show would start an hour later. But the late-night hosts had not agreed to the move. Gaspin said he expected NBC's late-night situation to be cleared up by the start of the Olympics.
Asked if O'Brien and Fallon expressed anger at his proposal, Gaspin said both men were professional and understanding when they talked.
"Beyond that, it was a private conversation," Gaspin said.
Two concept versions and more than two years later, Honda's CR-Z was finally shown in production form at the Detroit auto show.
The sporty two-seater hybrid coupe retains the basic shape of the original concept first shown at the 2007 Tokyo auto show, but it features a shorter wheelbase and a longer front overhang to meet crash standards.
At the heart of the CR-Z is a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology. The result is a combined peak output of 122 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque (123 lb-ft for continuously variable transmission models).
The CR-Z will be the first hybrid available with a six-speed manual, which is the standard transmission. A CVT with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters is optional. Preliminary fuel-economy estimates are 31/37 mpg city/highway for the manual and 36/38 mpg city/highway for CVT-equipped cars.
New to the hybrid system is a three-mode drive system that gives drivers the choice between Sport, Econ and Normal driving modes. For spirited drives, Sport sharpens engine throttle and steering response and the electric motor assist. Econ adjusts engine and electric-motor settings for optimal efficiency and reduces the air conditioning's load on the engine. Normal provides standard settings for steering, engine response, motor assist and air conditioning.
The interior features three-dimensional instruments with a blue color scheme. Depending on which drive mode is used, the inner ring of tachometer illuminates differently (red for Sport, transitions between blue and green for Econ and blue during Normal mode).
When the CR-Z goes on sale in late summer, it will be available in base and EX trims. Base models include stability control, a six-speaker audio system with USB connectivity, power windows, locks, remote keyless entry and cruise control. EX versions add xenon headlights, fog lights, a 360-watt premium sound system, Bluetooth, leather-wrapped steering wheel and center console with an armrest. Navigation is available on the EX.
Just a few months after the E-tron debuted at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, Audi has revealed the next chapter in its electric-car concept series at the Detroit auto show.
The Detroit show E-tron previews Audi's vision for a pure compact electric sports car. The new concept sits on a wheelbase that is nearly 9 inches shorter than the R8 and weighs in at just 2,976 pounds, of which 880 pounds come from the lithium-ion battery pack.
Weight is kept in check with the body constructed from aluminum, which also delivers high structural rigidity. Bolt-on parts such as the doors, body panels and roof are made from carbon-fiber-reinforced composites.
Performance numbers are impressive for the rear-wheel-drive sports car. Two electric motors are mounted on the rear axle to produce 204 hp and a staggering 1,955 lb-ft of torque. Zero to 62 mph happens in 5.9 seconds, top speed is limited to 124 mph and range is about 155 miles per charge, according to Audi.
For optimal performance capabilities, Audi placed the battery pack behind the cabin and in front of the rear axle for a weight distribution of 40:60. Also aiding in performance is torque vectoring afforded by the motors that can selectively distribute power to the wheels based on road and driving conditions.
Charging the battery can be done from a household outlet and would take 11 hours for a fully depleted pack, but a high-current 400-volt supply would cut charge time to roughly two hours. However, the Detroit show car doesn't have to rely entirely on power outlets for juice. It can also convert kinetic energy under braking to electric.
Other trick features include an automatic light-assist system that uses a camera to adjust beam settings based on traffic and weather conditions. For example, in fog, the headlights will adjust to provide a wider, more horizontal beam to cut down on glare.
Inside, the infotainment system is controlled with a touch-sensitive pad mounted on the steering wheel. Additionally, smart phones can be linked up to the car via a mobile network to preprogram information into the car's navigation system, address database and video player when you're not near the vehicle. Security updates and charge status can also be transmitted to your mobile phone.
When you're in front of your PC, waiting for something to transfer to removable media, that's when seconds feel like minutes, and minutes feel like hours. And data storage scenarios such as that one is where the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0's greatest impact will be felt first. As of CES, 17 SuperSpeed USB 3.0-certified products were introduced, including host controllers, adapter cards, motherboards, and hard drives (but no other consumer electronics devices). Still more uncertified USB 3.0 products are on the way, and they can't get here fast enough.
The beauty of USB 3.0 is its backward compatibility with USB 2.0; you need a new cable and new host adapter (or, one of the Asus or Gigabyte motherboards that supports USB 3.0) to achieve USB 3.0, but you can still use the device on a USB 2.0 port and achieve typical USB 2.0 performance. In reducing some overhead requirements of USB (now, the interface only transmits data to the link and device that need it, so devices can go into low power state when not needed), the new incarnation now uses one-third the power of USB 2.0.
The theoretical throughput improvement offered by USB 3.0 is dramatic -- a theoretical 10X jump over existing USB 2.0 hardware. USB 2.0 maxed out at a theoretical 480Mbps, while USB 3.0 can theoretically handle up to 5Gbps. Mind you, applications like storage will still be limited by the type of drive inside; so, for example, you can expect better performance from RAIDed hard drives or fast solid-state drives (SSDs) than from, say, a standalone single drive connected to the computer via USB 3.0.
The real-world examples are fairly convincing -- and underscore USB 3.0's advantage for high-def video, music, and digital imaging applications. Our early test results are encouraging as well: We tested Western Digital's My Book 3.0, the first USB 3.0-certified external hard drive. The performance was on a par with that of eSATA-but the benefit here is that USB 3.0 is a powered port, so you don't need to have another external power supply running to the drive (as you do with eSATA; unless the eSATA drive you're using is designed to steal power from a USB port while transferring data over the eSATA interface).
While the WD drive was the first to announce, a slew of other hard drive makers either announced products at the show, or discussed plans to release products in the coming months. Among them: Seagate (which is doing a portable drive), LaCie, Rocstor, and Iomega. Even non-traditional hard drive vendors like Dane-Elec and A-Data showed products they billed as USB 3.0 (the latter two even had USB 3.0-connected SSDs, the first external drives to use solid-state storage inside.
One of the things to look for in the coming months is the certified SuperSpeed USB 3.0 logo. Products are currently filling the queues at the official certification testing labs, but presence of that certification logo will give you some peace of mind that the product you're buying truly does live up to the USB 3.0 spec.
Given that the certification labs are jammed up, though, you can expect companies to release USB 3.0 products without official certification. (Buffalo Technologies' drive, released late 2009, is not certified; LaCie's drives are in the process of certification, but will initially carry LaCie's own logo for USB 3.0, and will gain a sticker on the box once certification is completed.) And in those cases, it will be hard to know whether the device truly lives up to its performance potential.
And this time around, the way the USB spec is written, says Jeff Ravencraft, consumers should have an easier time finding products that are truly USB 3.0. Before, in the transition from USB 1.1 to USB 2.0, the USB 2.0 spec was written in a way where it "encompassed low, full and high-speed USB," explains Ravencraft, president and chairman of the USB Implementers Forum. "Since those are all encapsulated in the USB 2.0 spec, [vendors] could have a certified product that's low-speed, but still call it USB 2.0.
"We don't have that issue with USB 3.0 To claim you're USB 3.0, you have to deliver 5Gbps. There's no other way to get the certification."
Ravencraft adds that the group is prepared to protect the USB 3.0 logo, to make sure that only manufacturers who go through certification use it. "We'll take legal action if anyone infringes on our marks."
By end of year, Ravencraft says the loggerjam of products awaiting certification should be past, and the organization's network of worldwide test labs will be handling USB 3.0 certification.
According to In-Stat Research, by 2013, more than one-quarter of USB 3.0 products will support SuperSpeed USB 3.0.
Ravencraft says this is the fastest ramp up of USB products he's seen in the past ten years, across the previous versions of USB.
I say the change can't come fast enough. The trick, though, will be getting the interface into our notebooks (without requiring a kludgy ExpressCard adapter). So far, though, only HP and Fujitsu have announced limited USB 3.0 support on notebooks. And Taiwanese notebook and desktop maker MSI indicated that it wouldn't have USB 3.0 until, at the earliest, the third-quarter of this year; product managers for both notebooks and desktops cited manufacturing concerns like chipset availability in large quantities, and the need to test USB 3.0 chipsets.
And in the meantime, the only announced peripherals remain storage devices. At next year's CES, it's likely we'll hear more about specific consumer electronics devices such as digital cameras and camcorders and video cameras moving to USB 3.0. Hopefully by then we'll start getting a critical mass of PC hardware with USB 3.0 integrated, too.
Project Natal will be launched in time for the holidays this year, in what promises to be a big year for Xbox 360 users.
The Xbox news was the highlight of CEO Steve Ballmer's keynote opening the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday, which was delayed by a brief power outage and included a lengthy pitch for Microsoft's recently launched Windows 7 operating system.
Ballmer also showed three new tablet PCs that will ship later this year, including a slender device from Hewlett-Packard that was running a PC version of Amazon's Kindle software. The device even looked a little like an e-reader, although it was apparently running Windows 7.
It wasn't the Courier tablet that Microsoft is reportedly working on and that some had expected to see at the keynote, however. Courier, as reported by the tech blog Gizmodo last September, is a novel device with two multi-touch screens that open like a book, and some nifty features like the ability to "flick" items from one screen to another.
Ballmer didn't mention Courier, however, and the news for gamers was the most compelling part of the evening.
"2010 is going to be a landmark year for all Xbox customers," thanks to Project Natal, lots of new games and an online retro arcade service, said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, who followed Ballmer on stage.
Project Natal was first previewed at the E3 show last year. It's a gaming control system that lets players use full-body gestures, like a kick or a punch, to interact with the action on screen. It employs a 3D camera to track body movements and then translates them into actions on the screen. Bach called it "the culmination of years of research."
He didn't give pricing or say how Project Natal will be sold, but he did say it will work with existing Xbox 360 consoles.
Also new for gamers, in the spring, will be Game Room. It's an online arcade where Xbox Live users can purchase classic video games from the 70s and 80s, from names like Atari and Activision, then invite the avatars of other Xbox Live users into their virtual arcade to play.
2010 will also be a big year for new Xbox games. Microsoft will release the next installment of its successful Halo franchise, called "Halo Reach," a prequel that will "tell the story of the epic battle before Halo 1," Bach said.
It will also introduce a new genre of games, "the psychological action thriller," with a game called "Alan Wake" that tells the story of a mystery writer who gets trapped in his own novels. "Think 'Lost,' written by Stephen King and directed by David Lynch," Bach said.
The evening began half an hour late after a power failure blackened out part of the stage at the Hilton center, along with a few of the computer screens on it.
Next time you’re in Switzerland driving down a windy village road at the foothills of the Alps, you may want to make sure you’re either very mindful of the police or very poor.
If you decide you want to speed your way through Switzerland, be warned there is no such thing as a standard fine for driving say, 35 mph over the limit. No, no, no. If you’re caught speeding in the land of fine watches and neutrality and you have a lot of money, you better hope you’ve kept your money stashed somewhere the Swiss can’t find it (a Swiss bank account?).
A 53-year-old man learned that lesson after receiving a record-setting fine of nearly $290,000 for driving 85 mph in a 50 mph zone through the small town of St. Gallen. Adding insult to injury, he was driving a car worth a fraction of the fine — a Ferrari Testarossa.
Why the hefty fine for a mere 35 over the limit?
In 2002 Swiss voters approved replacing prison terms for some offenses, including speeding, with fines based on your income. According to Tages Anzeiger, the lead-footed driver has an annual income of more than $820,000 and is worth well over $20 million.
And another tip if you are caught and given a hefty fine in Switzerland: Don’t make any big claims to try and get out of the ticket. The Testarossa driver was initially fined a little less than $90,000 by the local jurisdiction. That was raised to $145,000 by the next court after the driver claimed diplomatic immunity, saying he is diplomat from the Republic of Guinea-Bissau. That didn’t sway the court, which boosted the fine to $290,000.
“The accused ignored elementary traffic rules with a powerful vehicle out of a pure desire for speed” the court said.
On the upside, apparently he has to pay only half of the fine now. The rest is deferred and will be eliminated for good behavior.
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