You can find the press release here.

According to a Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) spokesman, the price for its PS3 Reference Tool will drop to 950,000 yen in Japan, US $10,250 in North America and €7,500 in Europe.

There is little question that the move is in reaction to the on-going market battle between PS3 and the Nintendo Wii. The $249 basic Wii kit has dominated the market of late, and PlayStation 3 needs a boost. Some cool new games would be just the ticket.

Control Factor video

Back in 2005, Sony commanded a princely US $25,000 for the developer’s kit. Still, the PS3 garnered a number of third-party games. The simple fact, however, is that PS3 needs more games, more good games.

SCEI said it will integrate programming tools developed by SN Systems, Ltd. as part of the PS3 Software Development Kit (SDK).

The pot is even sweeter. SCEI will enable the Debugging Station for PS3 (DECHA007J/ DECHA007A) to take part in the programming process, effectively assisting PS3 game title development on the Reference Tool (DECR-1000/ DECR-1000A).

The developer’s kit announcement comes at about the same time Sony set a $399 price point for the PS3. Pricing for the 40 GB version was announced on November 4 and was backed by multiple TV spots on shows ranging from football games to Prison Break to Saturday Night Live. There also was a $100 price cut on the 80GB PS3 to $499.

Along with this boost to the PS3 game development environment, SCEI will further reinforce its support system to the development community, and continue to further expand the PS3 platform, the company spokesman says.

KIT CONTENTS

SCEI says the tools to be integrated into the PS3 SDK include the ProDG, SN Distributed Build, SN Linker and SN Compiler.

ProDG is a programming tool developed by SN Systems, which will become available free of charge as part of the PS3 SDK. Additionally, through the improvement of its functionalities, ProDG, which used to be available for use only on the Reference Tool, is now available for use on the Debugging Station as well, contributing to reduction in development costs.
License and support fees for SN Distributed Build System (SN-DBS) were eliminated last month. SN-DBS is a distributed build system that improves productivity by dramatically reducing compiling time by distributing source code builds to multiple PCs on a local area network, allowing them to process in parallel. Compiling time is reduced by approximately 80% when using six PCs.

SN Linker is a program used during the building process for linking compiled programs. Compared to the existing linker, linking speed is significantly improved and can be up to eight times faster. The release of this program has already started through the SDK’s system software update released on November 2.

SN Compiler (SNC) is a new compiler that will be provided as the standard compiler for PS3. It is optimized for use for PS3 by adopting the industry standard C++ front-end. SCEI says it will significantly elevate game quality as well as improve productivity. This is due to its improved code generating efficiency. Release of the beta version of SNC will start from mid December as part of the SDK.

In addition to the provision of these powerful tools as part of the SDK, SCEI has also added the capability for the Debugging Station to take part in programming, thus assisting PS3 game title development on the Reference Tool, instead of using it only as a quality assurance system for games under development.

Just another example of the bonanza of coverage that motion control has gotten Nintendo — now if only their manufacturing can keep up with demand!

Read the whole article here.

The full article is here.

The company will also begin providing the jackets as standard equipment with all new Wii remote units shipped after that date.

Those Wii owners who purchased a system prior to the deadline can get free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii remotes. To get the free jacket, users have to go to the Internet and provide the serial number(s) from their remote units. The serial number is located on the back side of the Wii console system. It begins with two letters, followed by several numbers. 

Blame the need for jackets on over-enthusiastic players. The company says that the jackets are being offered for safety purposes. There have been reports of potential injury when players whip the Wii around as they play games. If they lose control of the unit and it flies out of their hands, it could potentially hurt someone else.   

Nintendo issued a recall this past December to offer stronger wrist straps for its remotes after there were reports of the remotes coming loose and flying into TV sets.

Those who want to request a Wii Remote Jacket for their system need to visit the Nintendo web site at http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/jacket/jacketrequest.jsp .

We’re not sure how well this combination of iPod, egg and Aibo will strike the market, but we have noted that part of the Rolly’s appeal (beyond the dance moves it will derive from your music collection) is the fact that it can be controlled by motion — with different gestures and movements switching between tracks and adjusting volume.

So while we can’t say whether the Rolly will be a phenomenon or a bust, we can say that it’s good to see a new use of motion control in a category of devices which (in most cases) could use some interface help.

Read more here Colour from the Dark move .

Of course, as many folks have noted, a patent application is far from a sure sign that the next DS will incorporate motion control. But just as interesting as the actual product is the impact that the patent might have on the wider handheld market — will, for example, the Apple iPhone infringe upon this patent? Or any of the motion-sensing phones already on the market in Japan and other non-U.S. markets?

It’s too soon to tell now, but this is an area that we’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on.

We had the chance to play for a very short time with an MX Air a couple of months ago when it was all in a “hush-hush, you can’t talk about it” mode. It’s very sleek to view and hold. Our first impression was that it reminded us of the photon torpedo that carried radiation-doomed Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It’s light and the accuracy is dead-on. We focused on the transition period from desktop to leanback mode where the mechanical transition time was not noticeable but you do have to change the orientation of your grip on the remote if you really want to hold it as a remote. One of the more distinctive inventions on the product – something that is more like the way you control volume on your Logitech DiNovo keyboard – is that in place of a traditional scroll wheel, Secret Diary of a Call Girl ipod the MX Air mouse has a touch-sensitive scroll panel. A swipe of the finger across the surface enables the inertial scrolling mechanism, which adjusts its speed according to the speed of the finger swipe. “Media functions such as Play/Pause, Volume/Mute, Back and Select can be easily accessed in the air by pressing the large, orange backlighted buttons with the thumb,” Logitech says. It takes a little getting used to, but the sound effects are very cool. It’s fun to just play with it for the sound effects. Everything else is platinum Logitech. We hear it’s shipping in August to normal Logitech outlets. Its suggested retail price in the U.S. is $149.99. We’ll have a full review when we can get our hands on one from Logitech PR.

This is a pretty huge win for Hillcrest. The startup has been talking for a while about their licensing deals but have either not been able or willing to talk about them publicly. At NXTComm 2007, Cisco was talking about how its Scientific Atlanta boxes sport Hillcrest now, and Logitech’s product makes it more than a one contract company it appears.

This move continues the trend toward motion control applications in general. Logitech’s release talks about its use of Freespace: “To enable effortless in-air navigation, the new mouse combines three important technologies – Freespace(TM) motion-control, gesture command and wireless – so people can point, select and play media files with just a flick of the wrist.” Yup, that’s why we started this site.

More from the release: “Freespace motion control technology is designed to provide accurate, responsive navigation without the limitations encountered by previous in-air pointing devices. This patented technology is based on a combination of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) sensors, DSP (digital signal processing) technology and RF (radio frequency) wireless technology. These combined technologies allow a user to hold the mouse in any orientation, point in any direction, and enjoy effortless, intuitive cursor control. Additionally, sophisticated algorithms distinguish between intentional and unintentional hand movements – effectively canceling the slight involuntary tremors everyone experiences when holding a device in the air.”

“Gesture-based commands add a new level of sophistication to the MX Air mouse. To change the volume, people press and hold the volume button and simply gesture – to the right to increase volume, or to the left to decrease it. For music applications, a small circular motion to the right activates the skip track command, while a circle to the left repeats the song.”

Logitech has the renowned Harmony product line that is extremely popular with the home theater crowd and it remains to be seen if they will outfit those devices with Freespace as well.

As for the MX Air product, they eschewed Bluetooth for this one. The Air mouse uses Logitech’s 2.4 GHz Digital Cordless technology, which offers a range of up to 30 feet (10 meters).

Logitech’s canned quotes from the release:

“The MX Air mouse offers a radically new way for people to control their PC entertainment,” said Rory Dooley, Logitech senior vice president and general manager of the Control Devices business unit. “It’s for anyone who has listened to music on their PC and been frustrated by having to return to the desk to change songs or volume. It’s for people who want to share vacation photos with friends and family without being tied to the desk. It’s for any of the millions of people using the Internet to browse and watch videos on sites such as YouTube or Grouper. And it’s for people with a living-room computer or media PC who want to navigate their media content on their terms.

The Fusion was announced in 2006 and is due to hit the market in Q3, according to the company. Like all 3rd party attempts at adding motion sensing to an existing platform, success will rely upon the creation of an ecosystem of games and controller devices that appeal to a large enough market — certainly Wii has proven the value of motion control in the overall market, so it probably comes down to In2Games’ ability to execute their strategy. We’ll be following up on this, as we’re particularly intrigued by the mix of relative and absolute positioning and the use of ultrasonic instead of infrared for the absolute side of the equation.

You can read the interview on Gamasutra here, and see more from In2Games here

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• Dunston Checks In move

, claiming that the Wii’s new motion sensing controller is infringing on its patents. We suspect that this is an area which will heat up over time, as other companies with intellectual property in this space come to the fore.
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