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handheld

Portable fuel cell generator: Green and powerful

I am not a film critic, but I find Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's recent action movie "Knight and Day" quite a snooze, for the most part. Spoiler alert: There's one thing I like about the movie, however, and it's the idea of the "Zephyr," a perpetual battery about the size of a regular AA that has enough power to run a small city, forever.

Now powering a small city forever with a tiny battery is quite an ambition and will take at least until 2020 to get (I am an optimist). For … Read more

Epic's Infinity Blade hands-on: Prettiest game on the iPhone/iPad

One of the biggest splashes in the iOS gaming scene came during an Apple keynote earlier this year when a preview of an upcoming game from Epic, using the Unreal engine, showcased graphics that seemed like they came from a next-gen console. A free preview of this game, called Epic Citadel, debuted shortly afterward. As a demo of the graphics prowess in the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, it was unparalleled.

The full game is now available, and its name has changed to Infinity Blade. The universal app costs $5.99, and the bottom line is this: its graphics top … Read more

FanVision: A dream gadget for NFL stadiums?

If you're a Miami Dolphins fan, FanVision might not be news. The handheld device, which rocks a 4.3-inch screen, was available to Dolphins fans all of last year, because it's Dolphins co-owner Stephen Ross' company. An attempt to answer back to high-quality HDTV feeds and interactive tools available at home, FanVision is an NFL technology debuting in a handful of stadiums starting with the imminent 2010 season. So far it'll be available in only 12 stadiums (for Cardinals, Bills, Dolphins, Broncos, Browns, Bears, Vikings, Jets, Eagles, Redskins, and Seahawks fans, specifically), in addition to being offered … Read more

Nintendo to cut DSi pricing on September 12

Nintendo is reducing the price of the DSi and the DSi XL, the company announced on Monday.

Starting on September 12, the Nintendo DSi will retail for $149.99, down from its current $169.99 price tag. Nintendo is also reducing the price of its DSi XL from $189.99 to $169.99 on the same day. The Nintendo DS Lite's price will remain at $129.99.

Although Nintendo says it's reducing the DSi's price to give consumers more "value," its decision could be due to declining sales of the handheld. In June, the company sold 510,000 DS units, … Read more

Sony Ericsson to develop Android/PSP phone?

Ever since the slow decline of the PSP platform began, we've wondered where exactly Sony would go next with its handheld-gaming platform. Despite Marcus Rivers and a handful of admittedly good titles, the PSP has been too expensive for its own good, while the iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android phones have become increasingly good and cheap gaming alternatives.

Nintendo answered back with 3D technology on the 3DS, but it has always seemed like the PSP could take its strong downloadable-game library onto a phone-like device with good results. We even predicted that as a longshot at this year's … Read more

No movable feast for portable TV

When the U.S. federal government closed the curtain on analog broadcasts last June, one set of screens that forever embraced a slumber of white noise was analog handheld TVs such as the Sony Watchman. The already modest popularity of these products waned as their broadcast system reached its end. Furthermore, their usefulness could not be prolonged as was the case for millions of analog TV sets connected to cable or satellite set-tops or paired with a converter box offered through the federal coupon program.

It was not long, though, before a new crop of digital televisions rose to take … Read more

Microsoft adds yet another mobile OS

If Microsoft is hurting for mobile customers, it's certainly not because it has a lack of different mobile operating systems.

The company already has Windows Embedded Compact (formerly Windows CE), Windows Mobile 6.5, and the forthcoming Windows Phone 7. The new Windows Phone is based, like previous versions of Windows Mobile, on the Windows CE core, but Phone 7 won't be able to run programs written for earlier Windows Phones. There's also the Kin, which runs its own flavor of the Windows Phone software.

Now, Microsoft is putting another brand in the mix, adding something called Windows Embedded Handheld. … Read more