TeknoNot

By Andrew Liszewski

It apparently wasn’t important enough to make the announcement roster during Samsung’s CES press conference, but the TicToc was on display at their booth and is a clever alternative to Apple’s iPod Shuffle. A built-in motion sensor makes switching tracks as easy as shaking the player, and it’s smart enough to cue up a slow song if shaken slowly, or a fast one if shaken vigorously, should you so desire.

On one end there’s a large button that’s used to power the TicToc on and off, but it’s also used, in conjunction with gravity, to adjust the volume. Hold the button with the player upside down and the volume will decrease, and vice versa. To be honest the gimmick actually seems like kind of a pain to use, but I’m sure it will appeal to the player’s target demographic which is somewhere in the tweens.

According to reps at their booth, the Samsung TicToc will be available later this year in 2 and 4GB capacities supporting MP3, WMA, OGG and FLAC audio formats with 12 hours of battery life. I’m going to assume it also comes with the syncing cradle pictured above, though the designer plastic sleeves used to customize the player’s appearance will be sold separately.

The Los Angeles Times’ “How I Made It” feature has shined a spotlight on none other than Naughty Dog creative director Amy Hennig, illuminating the secret of how a 45-year-old woman can conquer the gaming industry and nab Joystiq’s Game of the Year with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. She started out as a film student back in 1989 and says she had a revelation while working freelance for Atari that gaming “was a more interesting and pioneering medium” than even the movies.

She worked her way up the ladder and took chances when they came along. When the lead designer on the wacky Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City left the project, she stepped up and took the job. And having talent and intelligence can’t hurt either — she says that she puts her whole education into gaming, from English lit to film editing, and while she downplays her place as a woman in gaming (“This is a young enough and progressive enough industry” to avoid most problems with sexism, she says), she does admit that she, erm, moderated the male perspective on breast size with some of her developers. Because somebody’s got to, right? Excellent profile of one of gaming’s more unlikely stars.

[Thanks, MikeIriye!]

Naughty Dog’s Amy Hennig tells the LA Times how she made it originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Dragon and friends turn up on Dopod roadmap originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reuters – China plans to crack down on the online gambling industry, including the banks and websites that support it, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website.

AFP – US videogame giant Electronic Arts was unable to fight its way out of the red over the Christmas holidays, and has posted a net loss for the 12th consecutive quarter.

AP – Google Inc. has lowered by $200 the fee it charges customers who break a standard two-year contract for its new Nexus One phone on the T-Mobile USA Inc. network.

AP – Speech-recognition software maker Nuance Communications Inc. said Monday it narrowed its loss in the fiscal first quarter as revenue in the company’s two largest divisions, health care and dictation, and mobile and enterprise, increased.

Like a Star Trek convention minus Leonard Nimoy, Macworld Conference and Expo 2010 kicks off Tuesday at San Francisco’s Moscone Center with no official presence from Apple.

Though the event will lack a Steve Jobs keynote and won’t have an Apple product introduction to generate buzz, 250 vendors will be showcasing Apple-related products at the convention, and a few key members of the Apple community will be giving speeches and presentations to the estimated 30,000 Apple fans who are expected to attend.

“The really important thing with Macworld is that it’s popular, and it’s one of the last bastions where just a regular old user can come, go shopping and go to conference sessions,” said Paul Kent, International Data Group’s general manager of Macworld Expo 2010. “Macworld in the absence of Apple becomes a fan fest.”

Apple in 2008 announced it was pulling out of Macworld because its retail presence had grown strong and trade shows were no longer necessary to connect with customers. Apple has expanded from just two retail stores in 2001 to 280 retail locations worldwide to date.

Ross Rubin, an NPD Group analyst, said Apple’s move symbolized its focus on a mainstream audience of consumers.

“It reflects Apple’s move beyond a core community of Mac enthusiasts through a very broad multiproduct company,” Rubin said.

Without Apple, Macworld becomes a community event for Apple enthusiasts, developers and entrepreneurs to mingle and talk shop. This year’s show will highlight iPhone apps with a mobile apps showcase hosting 70 iPhone developers, according to Kent.

Attendees can also watch keynote presentations featuring Apple community members including New York Times technology columnist David Pogue, film director Kevin Smith, former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki and Daring Fireball blogger John Gruber.

Nonetheless, Macworld Expo’s future remains in question. In the past when Apple has pulled out of other Macworld trade shows, they each subsequently shuttered.

“Take a quick look at the history,” writes The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple, who has been attending Macworld Expos since 1996. “Apple pulled out of Macworld Expo Boston/New York — it failed; Apple pulled out of Macworld Expo Tokyo — it failed; Apple pulled out of Apple Expo Paris — it failed.”

As was expected, exhibitor numbers have seen a decline. Macworld Expo 2010 will feature about 250 registered vendors. 2009’s Macworld Expo saw 400 vendors.

IDG expects 30,000 attendees at Macworld Expo 2010. However, this number is not comparable with attendance in years past, because IDG made “basic admission” to the Macworld Expo 2010 show floor free. Previously, IDG charged $25 for a floor pass.

“We don’t pretend it’s not a big a deal that Apple is not participating in the show,” Kent said. “But the Mac marketplace continues to grow, and so has the value of having an independent company that serves as an advocate for the customers and the developers.”

Macworld Conference and Expo runs from Feb. 9 to Feb. 13. For the full schedule, visit the Macworld Expo website.

See Also:

• Macworld Already a Bummer, With Or Without Apple
• Jobs Won’t Appear at Macworld — 2009 to Be Apple’s Last Show
• Apple’s Big Macworld Announcement Is a Big Disappointment
• Apple Says Farewell to Macworld, Hello to the Big Time

Photo: Laughing Squid/Flickr

Reuters – Electronic Arts Inc warned that fiscal 2011 earnings would miss Wall Street expectations as it grapples with a lack of blockbuster new games after a succession of missed targets and restructurings.

It seems that Verizon is put its big-assed foot down and decided to prevent 4chan users from accessing their communal filth.

Verizon should remember that among the vast 4chan user group are the guys that tracked down the Heene residence with enough time to pizza prank the family in front of the cameras, and they have an army of basement dwelling nerds to rally behind their cause.

In the past, efforts to clamp down on 4chan have gotten ugly and there is no reason to suspect that this will end any differently. So, Verizon can go ahead and pencil in that embarrassing back-down for sometime later this week.

From 4Chan via the Geekologist:

Over the past 72 hours, we’ve been receiving reports from Verizon Wireless customers having difficulty accessing the image boards.

After investigating, we found that Verizon is dropping traffic to/from boards.4chan.org, only on port 80 (HTTP). No other subdomain/IP/port is affected, which leads us to believe this block is intentional.

After an hour and a half on the phone, we’ve received confirmation from Verizon’s Network Repair Bureau (NRB) that we are “explicitly blocked.”

If you’ve been affected by the block, please call Verizon NRB at (866) 298-5373 to file a complaint.

[Geekologie]

An average Darth Vader helmet will set you back a few hundred dollars, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this one fell only slightly short of a thousand.

From the manufacturer:

The biggest problem to overcome in translating 2D art into a three dimensional object is the issue of perspective. Drawing a three dimensional object on a flat two dimensional surface is one of an artists’ greatest skills. Adding width, height, depth, light and shadows which trick the eye into believing it is seeing a real object requires enormous talent. But often perspectives are cheated by the artist to create an effect not achievable in the real world. In Ralph’s Vader art, the helmet dome and the right side of Vader’s mask have had their perspective cheated to deliver a more looming, menacing look. Jay needed to address these issues while remaining faithful to the overall design.

Beginning work at the end of February 2008, Jay quickly established a routine of modeling sections and sending renderings to the eFX team for review and comments. Incorporating the comments of three sets of critical eyes here at eFX, as well as his own astute observations, Jay would remodel the parts send more renderings and we would discuss the choices made until everyone was satisfied this interpretation was faithfully following the original art. These images show the painstaking process of how jay’s renderings were constantly overlaid and checked against the original artworks and how exhaustive the comments and discussions were to sculpt this piece as close as possible to the original art.

The helmet itself is constructed from fiberglass, lined with leather and uses machined metal for some of the details.

The $900 price-tag might sound excessive, but for the 250 people that picked one up it must have been reasonable – as it has already sold out. [Fashionably Geek]

Reuters – With their paths through the Internet increasingly blocked by government filters, Nooshin and her fellow Iranian opposition-supporters say their information on planned protests now comes in emails.