RYAN NAKASHIMA
LAS VEGAS — Associated Press Published on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2007 8:10AM EST Last updated on Friday, Apr. 03, 2009 9:57AM EDT
PC gamers once had to manipulate their on-screen personas with a mouse and keys such as a, s, d, w and space bar. Now they can do it all with one hand.
San Jose, Calif.-based startup Sandio Technology Corp. has developed what it calls a 3D gaming mouse, the Game O', that adds one top and two side joystick-like controllers to the regular two-button mouse with scroll bar.
“It gives you an advantage over an opponent,” said Sandio sales manager Angel Chu, introducing the product at the International Consumer Electronics Show. “It frees up your left hand so you can do more things like invent new moves, or drink a beer, have a cigarette while playing games.”
The Game O' is to sell online at places such as Buy.com and Amazon.com this month for $79.99.
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Physical fitness in video gaming now means a lot more than just twiddling your thumbs.
Game enthusiasts who are also health nuts can sit on a new game bike from Greely, Colo.-based 3D Innovations LLC that monitors calories burned, distance traveled and time elapsed, all while driving imaginary cars or shooting enemies.
The PCGamerBike Recumbent, which plugs into one's computer through the USB port, also comes with a gym-equipment-standard seat and a mechanism that reacts more carefully to the environment in the game. Side-to-side controls still require the input of a mouse, game control or keyboard.
“The tension will increase when you're going up hills,” said saleswoman Ashlee Bowman.
The previous game bike cost $179. The new recumbent model with chair attached will cost around $1,000 and be released in the United States in the summer.
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It looks like the pilot seat on an ultralight aircraft. But it's actually a high-tech “joystick hanging upside down” that acts like a controller on any game console or computer.
It's the “Dream Machine,” and Australian inventor Robert James-Herbert says it brings a new level of physical interactivity to video games that have left most players sitting down with sore digits.
“I'm a gamer and like any game, I want more immersion,” James-Herbert said. “What we've developed in this is a level of immersion that's unheard of in games of the past.”
The player hangs in an apparatus from a three-pronged swing set, and hip swivels and gyrations control one's character in any game. Fixed handlebars allow one to swing right, left, forward and backward, while pedals and buttons take care of other moves.
“Whatever way you look at it it's a better, healthier way to play,” he said. “It's also a lot more fun.”
James-Herbert's company, Australian Simulation Control Systems Pty. Ltd., plans to release the controller in the third quarter in the United States for between $1,000 and $1,500.
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Frequent travellers who hate the trackpad controls on their laptops may find reprieve in the MoGo Mouse.
Natick, Mass.-based Newton Peripherals LLC is selling a wireless Bluetooth optical mouse that folds down to recharge in the laptop's PC Card or Express Card/54 slot and then pops back up with a kickstand for use.
“People who use laptops don't like carrying a big mouse with them wherever they go,” spokesman Steve Friedberg said. “They can't stand using the trackpad and the little travel mice are just too small.”
The newest version, the MoGo Mouse X54, was unveiled at the International Consumer Electronics Show. It comes with a touch-scroll bar that a reporter found did not function that well.
Newton plans to start selling the $80 device in the United States in the second quarter. The earlier PC Card model costs $70.
The company also began selling what it called the world's smallest Bluetooth adapter for users whose laptops don't already have the capabilities. The button-sized USB plug-in costs $50.
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Those who have downloaded songs onto their phones now have a way to listen to them on their stereos using wireless technology.
At the International Consumer Electronics Show this week, Sony Ericsson unveiled a wireless adapter that can plug into the back of a stereo system and play songs off any Bluetooth-enabled phone.
“Say, you're going to a party and for some reason they don't have music,” spokesman Drew Crowell said. “You bring this. You plug it into the back of their stereo. ... It's really quick and easy and you just then control the music that is playing.”
Normal phone functions allow the user to control volume, pause and skip tracks.
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, a joint venture of Sweden's LM Ericsson and Japan's Sony Corp., says the product should be available in the United States by March for $79.
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