Gaming with the Sony PlayStation Phone (XPERIA Play)
Seriously, this rumor has been years in the making, but it looks like Sony might be ready to launch the first real PlayStation Phone. The kicker is that recent reports are saying Sony won’t be marketing it as a PSPhone, because they don’t want to confuse consumers.
From what I hear, the PSPhone will instead be marketed as the Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, joining the XPERIA family of smartphones. It’ll run on Google Android, but will likely have a custom skin and dedicated access to the PlayStation Network for mobile game downloads. It’s rumored to have slide-out controls, as depicted above, as well as the prerequisite touchscreen.
The XPERIA Play has a good chance of showing up at CES, but a true Sony PSP2 probably will not. With the iPhone’s big lead in mobile gaming, this new product had better be awesome to get any traction. We’ve already seen Panasonic fail at introducing a new portable gaming device in 2010.
Ditching the Glasses for 3D HDTV
At CES 2010, all of the major television manufacturers were going around showing off their shiny new 3D HDTVs. They told us that we’d be blown away and, while 3DTV has indeed made it to retail, it hasn’t exactly gone mainstream.
Why? Well, it’s not just a matter of expense or the slowly growing library of content. For me, I don’t want to bother with the glasses. If you have guests over, then you have to give them glasses too and 3D glasses aren’t exactly cheap. That’s why there are rumors that guys like Samsung and Sony will be showcasing some glasses-free 3DTV tech.
We’ve seen glasses-free 3D with the Nintendo 3DS, but that’s an entirely different beast from the massive HDTV in your living room. CES has seen some early glasses-free 3D HDTV sets in years past, but this year could represent a real push.
Personally, our experience with anything wearable for extended TV viewing has been less than stellar. So we’re quite interested to see how this glass free experience will be in the flesh.
Minority Report for the Apple iPad
Speaking of moving into the future, your Apple iPad could soon be getting some KINECT-like gesture controls. The interesting thing is that this tech is coming neither from Microsoft nor Apple; it’s coming from some firm called Elliptic Labs from Norway.
The “gesture control system” should be demonstrated at CES 2011, allowing you to interact with your Apple tablet without ever physically touching the screen. You can swipe to the left and right by waving your hands, not unlike the experience that we saw Tom Cruise enjoy in Minority Report. You know, without the holograms and such.
There is a preview video posted on YouTube, but I’d really want to see the real thing in action and not just some computer animation. If it really does work though, you could be seeing your own minority report shortly.
What Do You Want Us to See?
The Consumer Electronics Show is positively massive. From gadgets to computers, home theater to car audio, it really runs the gamut when it comes to the world of technology. That’s why we need your help!
Let us know if there’s something specific you want us to check out. We’ll be providing all kinds of coverage through the Futurelooks Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube channels, as well as on the main site. If we’re in the neighbourhood, we’d be happy to swing by to check out something for our readers.
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