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Thekstategeek is new and improved. TECHTOIT.COM
WE HAVE MOVED. Due to our unexpected success, we have changed domains and moved to a “big boy” server. If you reach this page via a search, or reference or anything really, then click the link below to take you to our new site – TECHTOIT.COM. New logo, new slogan, new look, new feel… it’s the real deal.
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Kinecthacks.net up for sale
kristofferR of KinectHacks.net is putting his site up for sale due to personal reasons. The content on the site has been written by him and a lead writer, who is interested in maintaining a steady stream of content. The site is currently up for sale on Flippa.com, the full auction can be found here. The bidding is currently at $5,050 with 1 day and 19 hours left to go. Nothing is wrong with the site, in fact, it’s quite the contrary. Today KinectHacks celebrated their 1 millionth view in a little over 2 months.
This is only a sample of their success, they also have a massive following on the following social networking platforms:
- Facebook Page with over 2157 fans (http://facebook.com/KinectHacking)
- Twitter account with over 2027 followers (http://twitter.com/KinectHacks)
- YouTube account with over 1064 subscribers (http://www.youtube.com/user/KinectHacks)
The writing itself is kind of lacking, most posts have a little bit of a description, a link and an embedded YouTube video, but the content itself is especially fascinating. I myself, being a Kinect enthusiast/owner have visited the site on a few occasions to see how well they are doing being the first site unique to hacking Microsoft’s Kinect. This alone has propelled them to success in such a short amount of time. The auction contains everything associated with the site, from the kinecthacks@gmail email account to a list of the best sources for creating new content and 30 days guidance and support to make the transition as smooth as possible.
A particular section of the auction lists the monetary potential of the site:
The site hasn’t been monetized properly yet.
It could probably earn at least $500-1000 a month just from the advertising space alone. There are already companies developing commercial computer applications for the Kinect and advertising space on the most popular blog for Kinect hacking would surely be interesting for them. Affiliate marketing for Kinect’s is also an option (we’ve earned $239 from Amazon so far).
The real goldmine, however, lies in selling an ebook/information product about hacking the Kinect on the site. Over 8 million Kinects have already been sold (in less than three months). A lot of those are hungry for an easy to understand information product/guide about how to hack the Kinect. It’s a hungry marked just waiting to be filled and the KinectHacks site would be the optimal way to promote such a product.
We haven’t even got to the future yet. How many Kinect will be sold during 2011? 10 million? 20 million? Just imagine what you could make then.
I would have no problem at all taking the reins of an operation like that 😉 As for the “goldmine” that kristofferR mentioned, it doesn’t exist yet, so don’t get too terribly excited. There are plenty of links to sites that have instructions for the gamer/hacker well-versed in code and things of that nature, but they have yet to create the guide that will help ease the rest of us into the procedures.
If interested in the auction, visit the link above to bid on it yourself.
More Kinect Hacks!
Minecraft + Kinect = Awesome Statues
The first part of this hack, allows you to use the Kinect to scan images of yourself and whatever else you choose into the game Minecraft. The creator of said hack, Nathan Viniconis states the goal of this hack: take a sequence of snapshots from a Kinect and transform them into a stop motion animation within Minecraft. This is the second phase of the Minecraft-Kinect integration project. To find tutorials and a plethora of juicy details on the project, visit his website here.
The next part of this hack allows you allows you to scale said statue and, even better, now supports animations for up to three seconds. So you’re rock statue clone can now wave and say “hi”!
Kinect Mapping the World
Martin Szarski strapped a Kinect to his car, connected it to a laptop and used a Nexus One for geotagging and took off creating a “point cloud” that collected data on a stretch of road, including both buildings and scenery (as seen in the image above). The project uses libfreenect and the .NET wrapper for same, along with OpenTK for the Matrix maths and Proj.NET for the spatial transforms. There is a lot more included with this hack considering Szarski wrote his own software intitially to register the depth image from the Kinect and turn it in to a metric point cloud with real distances – those details can be found on his blog Decorator Pattern (that has the same theme as this one).The possibilities contained within this hack are very substantial. This technology could/should be used in future games to create ultra-realistic maps of areas familiar to the gamer to make more of an immersive experience.
Angry Birds controlled by the Kinect
A YouTube user known as TheTVTaster has crafted a way to use his Kinect and his iPod Touch to play Angry Birds on his PC. Unfortunately, there is no further details on the video’s description, nor on Kinect Hacks where it was posted, but I hope you enjoy the video nonethless!
[Source: Joystiq, KinectHacks]
Verizon’s iPhone commercial “It begins” and Apple’s “Two is better than one”
“To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come… Thank you.” Oh Verizon, you’re so customer-friendly. As the beginning of a very spectacular era begins, Verizon begins their ad campaign with gentle thanks to the “millions” who have been praying for the iPhone to wear Red. The video is fresh, as of this posting, the official YouTube video has only 303 views.
UPDATE
Apple’s new advertisement takes two of the fiercest competitors known to the wireless device industry and coerces them to waltz (if that’s what they’re implying… the music sure makes me think of that). This commercial distinctly points out that the Verizon iPhone can do everything the AT&T iPhone can do. After all, “two is better than one.” You’re absolutely right Apple, for your wallet.
Verizon's iPhone commercial "It begins" and Apple's "Two is better than one"
“To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come… Thank you.” Oh Verizon, you’re so customer-friendly. As the beginning of a very spectacular era begins, Verizon begins their ad campaign with gentle thanks to the “millions” who have been praying for the iPhone to wear Red. The video is fresh, as of this posting, the official YouTube video has only 303 views.
UPDATE
Apple’s new advertisement takes two of the fiercest competitors known to the wireless device industry and coerces them to waltz (if that’s what they’re implying… the music sure makes me think of that). This commercial distinctly points out that the Verizon iPhone can do everything the AT&T iPhone can do. After all, “two is better than one.” You’re absolutely right Apple, for your wallet.
K-State Custom Xbox 360 Mod
Getting tired of your boring old Xbox 360? Probably not! But for those of you who are bored with your 360, I might have a few ideas to give your Xbox some new life. You maybe asking yourself: “What are these changes?”. Well hold tight and get ready to see what is in-store for your 360.
The picture above is known as a case mod. If you have seen a case mod it would normally be for something such as a computer; not your gaming console. So what all is featured in the picture above? You see a variety of different colored lights, two fans, and my personal favorite, a K-State Powercat, back-lit by Ultra-Violet LED’s.
Unfortunately we did not take any pictures at the start, so we can’t walk you through the full process, but the internet can certainly help. Search Google and YouTube for “case mod tutorials” and I guarantee you will find something to help you get started (it sure helped me).
While this post is not a tutorial, I”ll provide an overview containing the materials used, cost of the project and some tips on how to make the whole process of case modding easier.
Cost: This project cost roughly $50. This included: LED’s, wire, fans, and the power supply. You can subtract $20 for the fans since they are mostly a cosmetic addition.
Tools: To get from start to finish on this project you will need most of the following: soldering gun, wire strippers, dremel, drill, filing tool, sand paper, set of screwdrivers, and some scissors never hurt to have close by.
Tips:
- Be prepared to spend a lot of time working on this. Patience is key!
- Start by checking your warranty! If you still have one, this may not be the best thing to do since it voids your warranty.
- Have someone with you when opening your Xbox (preferring someone who has opened one before).
- Have an idea drawn on the cover before start drilling.
- Use lower gauge wire to make sure the cover will fit back in place.
- Have fun!
I will leave you with a gallery below of the work that was done and some shots of the final product. Hope you guys enjoy. Leave some comments or e-mail pictures of any case mods you might have for your Xbox 360 to thekstategeek@gmail.com.
-KSUGadgetGuy
iOS 4.3 will include photo-heavy features: FaceTime for iPad, PhotoBooth and PhotoStream service
Apple’s developer release of iOS 4.3 Beta 2 has provided solid evidence that the iPad2 will have at least one camera. This release included a home page icons image that’s used in the wallpaper settings, showing the standard icons on your choice of wallpaper to preview how your choice will appear (any iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad user should be familiar with this). On the image provided, 3 new icons were discovered: FaceTime, Camera and PhotoBooth. The Camera app doesn’t necessarily discern whether there will be a front and back-facing camera set, but it implies there will be at least one on the device. FaceTime is by no means a surprise, but helps to cement the addition of a camera to the hardware, considering the use of FaceTime on the next-gen iPad has been discussed feverishly for the last few months.
PhotoBooth is a nice complement to the camera. I have been wishing for the inclusion of Apple photo editing software in one of the firmware upgrades for a while now, and am happy to see PhotoBooth ported from Mac OS X to their handheld series. For those of you unfamiliar with PhotoBooth, the primary feature that will be transferred to iOS is quoted [from their website] as:
The fun begins.
Sure, you can take regular photos, but the real fun starts when you use the cool effects and backdrops in Photo Booth. Snap a photo of yourself at the Eiffel Tower or in outer space. Twist and twirl your smile with the strange Twirl effect. Add an artistic look with the Colored Pencil effect. Experiment with all the effects to transform your look.
Many third-party developers have created their own renditions of photo editing apps for the App Store, but I feel as if PhotoBooth will be the perfect solution. (Then again, I loved iMovie, but it wasn’t received too terribly well.) The last chunk of the photo features rumored/confirmed to be arriving in iOS 4.3 lay in what has become known as PhotoStream. The following is speculation from 9to5Mac, written by Mark Gurman, and I felt it was incredibly interesting:
Hidden deep in the iOS 4.3 file system is a new folder titled “Media Stream.” Within that folder is some information about “Photo Streaming.” From the looks of different alerts and plists, it appears that Apple will let iPhone users set up “Photo Streams” that friends could “subscribe” to. Also, it looks like there will be some privacy preferences related to this, so you can choose who is allowed to view your “Streams.”
With Photo Streams, you will also be allowed to “invite” other users to view your pictures as you take them and upload them to a service. This service looks like it is connected to MobileMe, and we speculate that “Media Stream” can be directly connected to “Find my Friends.” We think Find my Friends will be another aspect of Apple’s social network, a part of a free MobileMe, where you can choose to view your friends’ “Photo Streams” all on that same map. Apple has a patent on something called iGroups relating to this. This would clearly tie into the Mac and iOS photo app’s Places feature. From looking at the SDK, it looks like “Media Stream” could very well also have a plugin counterpart, like AirPlay, in 3rd party apps.
From the actual operating system, not the SDK, we could only find references and graphics relating to the “Photo Stream” feature, not the “Media Stream” feature in general. We speculate that Apple is currently working on “Media Stream” and this is going to go way beyond photos in the future. We think Apple will expand this to music and videos, maybe like AirPlay between mobile iOS devices where you can watch or listen to your friends’ media and of course Apple will provide easy buy links to iTunes.
I actually hope that Mr. Gurman is correct in most of his theories. Sounds like a fantastic step forward out of Apple Nazi-dom and into a more people-friendly space. Besides, Facebook is good and all, but I would love to see Apple create a legitimate contender.
[Sources: TUAW, MacRumors, 9to5Mac, Apple]
YVC7MXC569AU (Technorati Verification Code)
Nintendo 3DS due out on March 27 for $249.99
Alongside the Amsterdam unveiling, Nintendo presented the Nintendo 3DS to Americans in New York City this morning. We will be getting the handheld for $249.99 on March 27, along with “30+” titles within the launch window (between the release and E3 in June). I’ve included the complete press release below for those interested –
Nintendo 3DS Brings a Dimensional Shift to the World of Entertainment on March 27
Glasses-Free 3D Gaming System Comes Packed with Features at Suggested Retail Price of $249.99
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The company that changed the world of video games with touch-screen gaming in 2004 and motion-controlled gaming in 2006 now pioneers the next dimensional shift. On March 27, Nintendo introduces portable entertainment in 3D – without the need for special glasses. The Nintendo 3DS™ system will be available in either Cosmo Black or Aqua Blue, and will have a suggested retail price of $249.99. Pricing outside the United States will be established by the local markets, but offer similar consumer value.
“Nintendo 3DS is a category of one – the experience simply doesn’t exist anywhere else,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “You have to see Nintendo 3DS to believe it. And it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.”
Nintendo 3DS includes two screens. The bottom touch screen makes use of a telescoping stylus that is stored in the unit itself. The top screen displays 3D visuals to the naked eye. Looking at the screen is like peering through a window into a world where characters and objects have true depth. The system also has a 3D Depth Slider that lets players select the level of 3D they enjoy the most. The 3D effect can be ratcheted up to the highest level, scaled back to a more moderate setting or even turned off completely, depending on the preference of the user.
In addition to the familiar + Control Pad and button controls found on previous Nintendo hand-helds, Nintendo 3DS now also includes a Circle Pad, which provides a full 360 degrees of direction, giving it the freedom and precision needed to play games in 3D worlds. It brings the same degree of responsiveness that gamers enjoyed when Nintendo introduced an analog control stick to navigate Mario™ through Super Mario 64™ on the Nintendo 64™ system.
A built-in motion sensor and gyro sensor can react to the motion and tilt of the system, so whether players are twisting their systems side to side or moving them up and down, their motion-compatible Nintendo 3DS games respond instantly. No other system includes so many tools for game developers to create new and fun experiences for players.
Two features will allow owners to stay connected in new ways. Both deliver bonus content to owners as they move around during their daily lives, so users might open up their systems at any moment to find new surprises. For owners who choose to activate it, the StreetPass™ feature is capable of exchanging game information with other Nintendo 3DS systems as owners pass one another. Small packets of information can be exchanged using this data-transfer method, such as Mii™ character data, maps for games or high scores and custom character data for different games. The SpotPass™ feature can connect to compatible public hotspots and through a wireless broadband Internet connection at home, even if the system is in Sleep Mode. Once connected, the Nintendo 3DS system will receive new content and updates on a regular basis.
Each Nintendo 3DS system comes pre-loaded with a variety of fun games, applications and features, such as Nintendo 3DS Camera. Nintendo 3DS has three cameras. One camera points at the user, while two additional cameras point outward. These two outer cameras take photos in 3D. The fun, built-in game Face Raiders™ asks users to shoot at funny depictions of their own faces. Nintendo 3DS, when put into Sleep Mode, can act as a pedometer, while letting users earn Play Coins for the steps they take that can then be traded in for additional content in compatible games and applications. By accessing the Activity Log, users can check their steps as well as their play time. With Nintendo 3DS Sound, users can enjoy sound-manipulation tools or rock out while listening to their MP3 or AAC music files. An upgraded Internet browser will also be available via a system update.
The Mii Maker™ application gives users new tools to create Mii™ characters even more easily: Users can either import Mii characters from their Wii systems using an SD memory card or use the camera to take a picture of a person and have an automatic Mii character created. Users can even save their Mii characters to an SD card as pictures, which enables them to be used any way a digital photo would for personal use, such as a profile picture on social-networking sites.
The Nintendo eShop, through a system update, will offer access to downloadable games, including Nintendo DSiWare™ and ones specifically made for Nintendo 3DS. Also, just as the Virtual Console service on Wii makes retro games available for download, the Virtual Console games on Nintendo 3DS will be pulled from classic Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color games. Players will be able to view game videos, download demos for select games and see how other consumers rated the games. The Nintendo eShop will use a cash-based system. Users can either input credit card information in the shop or purchase a Nintendo 3DS Prepaid Card at retail locations.
Nintendo 3DS comes with six augmented-reality cards, called AR cards. When the two outer cameras are pointed at the cards, they read the cards and superimpose images and animations onto the scene. So users shouldn’t be surprised if they see a dragon popping out of their kitchen tables. Developers can also use this technology to add creative new experiences to their games.
Built-in parental controls can be used to limit Internet access or some of the wireless functions. By using a PIN code, parents also can turn off the 3D function altogether, or limit the ratings of the games that their kids can play.
Fans of online play will be happy to learn that the friend codes for Nintendo 3DS are specific to each Nintendo 3DS system, not each game. Once friends trade hardware codes, at any time they can check their friends list to see which of their friends are online and what they are playing.
Nintendo 3DS can also play Nintendo DS game cards with their original 2D visuals. The system also includes a slot for an SD memory card. To help users get started, every system comes with a 2GB SD memory card (though owners can provide whatever size they like). Using a service that will be provided after the hardware’s launch, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™ owners will be able to transfer games downloaded from the Nintendo DSi Shop onto their new Nintendo 3DS systems.
During the launch window (between the March 27 launch date and the E3 Expo in early June) more than 30 games will be available to Nintendo 3DS owners. These include Nintendo-created games like Pilotwings Resort™, which has players soaring acrobatically over iconic Wuhu Island; nintendogs™ + cats, a new version of the Nintendo DS classic with a feline enhancement; and Steel Diver™, a side-scrolling submarine adventure that gives the illusion that the player is peering into an aquarium. Other Nintendo 3DS games in the works include The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, Star Fox 64™ 3D, Kid Icarus™: Uprising and new installments in the Mario Kart™, Animal Crossing™ and Paper Mario™ series.
Nintendo 3DS also enjoys some of the strongest third-party support of any system launch. A partial list of titles coming soon to Nintendo 3DS includes Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked from Atlus; Super Street Fighter® IV 3D Edition and Resident Evil®: The Mercenaries 3D from Capcom; Madden NFL Football from EA SPORTS; The Sims™ 3 from Electronic Arts; Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 3D from Konami; LEGO® Star Wars® III: The Clone Wars™ from LucasArts™; Ridge Racer® 3D and Dual Pen Sports™ from Namco Bandai Games America Inc.; Super Monkey Ball™ 3D, Thor™: God of Thunder and CRUSH™ 3D from SEGA; BUST-A-MOVE™ UNIVERSE from Square Enix, Inc.; Samurai Warriors® Chronicles and Dead or Alive® Dimensions from Tecmo Koei America Corp.; and Asphalt™ 3D, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Shadow Wars, Combat of Giants™: Dinosaurs 3D, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell® 3D, Rayman® 3D and Rabbids® Travel in Time from Ubisoft.
For more information about Nintendo 3DS, visit http://www.nintendo3ds.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ home console and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 3.5 billion video games and more than 577 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com.
[Sources: Engadget, Business Wire]
HP/Palm tablets “Opal” and “Topaz,” plus HP stabs at Engadget
A trusted source sent the rendered images above into Engadget. The model seen is the 9-inch Topaz, one of two tablets that will be coming out in 2011. The other is a 7-inch little brother that includes the same feature set, codenamed Opal. Both models include a no-button design, a front-facing camera, a micro USB port and what they call a “Vizio Tablet-style” 3-speaker system. Engadget also noted that the back appears to be glossy, so the possibility of a Touchstone charger is not likely. Apparently units will begin arriving at Palm HQ in June that line up with an internal marketing slide that they were also given that lists WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions of the Opal arriving in September 2011, and on AT&T LTE in July 2012. The Opal is said to have more of an e-reader emphasis as well as “premium audio” which pertains to the 3-speaker system. Unfortunately for Engadget, they didn’t receive any word on pricing or specs. This tablet needs to pack a serious punch for cheap if it’s being released neck and neck with the Playbook, iPad2 and the Xoom.
Oh, and there’s this. It made me laugh. Can’t wait to see what else HP has in store for their press release if it had nothing to do with the tablets.
HP/Palm tablets "Opal" and "Topaz," plus HP stabs at Engadget
A trusted source sent the rendered images above into Engadget. The model seen is the 9-inch Topaz, one of two tablets that will be coming out in 2011. The other is a 7-inch little brother that includes the same feature set, codenamed Opal. Both models include a no-button design, a front-facing camera, a micro USB port and what they call a “Vizio Tablet-style” 3-speaker system. Engadget also noted that the back appears to be glossy, so the possibility of a Touchstone charger is not likely. Apparently units will begin arriving at Palm HQ in June that line up with an internal marketing slide that they were also given that lists WiFi-only, AT&T 3G, and Verizon LTE versions of the Opal arriving in September 2011, and on AT&T LTE in July 2012. The Opal is said to have more of an e-reader emphasis as well as “premium audio” which pertains to the 3-speaker system. Unfortunately for Engadget, they didn’t receive any word on pricing or specs. This tablet needs to pack a serious punch for cheap if it’s being released neck and neck with the Playbook, iPad2 and the Xoom.
Oh, and there’s this. It made me laugh. Can’t wait to see what else HP has in store for their press release if it had nothing to do with the tablets.
The Kstate Geek 
