David Lidsky's Blog, page 4596

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder on 3-D Gaming and Motion Controls

We sit down with Ben Feder, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, as well as Public Affairs VP Alan Lewis, to discuss the latest innovations in video games: Sony and Microsoft's motion controls, gaming on 3-D televisions, and the success of downloadable content.

Kevin Ohannessian: What's your favorite thing at E3 this year?

Ben Feder: Can I say my own games? We're really excited about the first-party controllers. I think what Sony is doing is exciting, what Microsoft is doing is exciting, what...

Cisco Cius: A Business-Focused Android Tablet for Teleconferencing on the Go

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As the first major tablet to be officially announced after the iPad's launch, Cisco's Cius is bound to be compared to Apple's pioneer. But really, they're two very different devices, aimed at two very different markets. You could almost think of the Cius as the BlackBerry to the iPad's iPhone: It has a specific set of tools for a specific segment of buyer, and those buyers could well find it as indispensable as the BlackBerry. After all, BlackBerry is still kicking the iPhone's ass in...

What is Too Much Information in an Information Age?

PepsiCo's CMO Jill Beraud keeps her customers top of mind when desseminating information.

Hulu Plus is Real: $10/Month for iPhone, iPad and TV Viewing

Finally! Hulu Plus has been made official, and it looks awesome.

For $10 a month, you'll be able to stream in HD entire current seasons of shows Glee, Modern Family, The Office and 30 Rock as well as the entire back library of many other shows, such as Arrested Development, The X-Files and Heroes.

You can watch said shows in a variety of ways: on your computer, of course, but also on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch--over Wi-Fi or 3G (!!). And your TV! Hulu Plus will be supported on the PS3...

Corporate Activism: GE Sends Giant Wind Turbine Blade to Washington, DC

Climate activism isn't just for nonprofits and idealistic individuals. Sometime, major corporations get on board in a big way--literally, in the case of GE, which recently sent a 131-foot wind turbine blade to Washington, DC's Nationals Park for the 2010 Congressional Baseball Game. The blade, which is 75 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, comes from a 1.5 MW turbine manufactured in South Dakota that provides enough energy for 400 homes.

GE company teamed up with the American Wind...

Infographic of the Day: Censorship Muzzles 1/4 of the World's Population

But in the age of the Internet, how much does it matter?

Here's another intriguing infographic from the Woorkup, which shows two things: At the top, the number of people around the world affected by censorship. And, at the bottom, the portion of people in those countries that have access to the internet:

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There's probably not much to say about this, except to note that the topline figure for people muzzled by censorship is a shockingly massive portion of the world--25% of people alive.

Then...

Can a Ball Help Kids Learn Braille?

Be-B could teach Braille to children, blind or not, through touch and sound.

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Imagine if you could pick up Braille just by playing with a ball. A new conceptual toy by recent Pratt grad Danielle Pecora is designed precisely for that.

Be-B is a ball that helps kids, blind or not, learn Braille through touch and sound. Looking a bit like a stiff Koosh ball, it has 26 magnetic pegs, each depicting a letter of the alphabet in Latin on one side and Braille on the other. The object's to fit the...

Making of Touching Stories: Director Geordie Stephens and "The Most Interesting Couple in Britain"

Part video game, part immersive entertainment, Touching Stories is an app featuring four interactive films made for the iPad. We're focusing on each of the films and their directors this week. First up, Geordie Stephens.

"The Most Interesting Couple in Britain" opens like a typical British sitcom: A husband and wife sitting opposite each other at their kitchen table, enjoying a spot of tea, discussing the news of the day. But after the scene ends, the viewer has the ability to play it again...

Cisco's Home Energy Controller Gives Smart Meter-Equipped Homes a Command Center

Cisco has made a big push into the smart grid industry recently, first with two pieces of substation gear for utilities and now with a home energy display that allows users to monitor power use. The Home Energy Controller--Cisco's first piece of equipment for smart meter-equipped homes--will be tested this summer with Duke Energy customers in Charlotte, North Carolina and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Cisco's controller is, essentially, a command center for home energy management. The device acts like a...

Icebreakers Smash Frozen Arctic Ocean in Surprising Ways

Frozen ocean, big boats, powerful engines and deliberate, full-speed collisions, icebreakers are ships we tend not to think much about, but they're worth a longer look. They don't work how you think they might.

NASA's just published a new update on the activities of arctic coastguard vessel Healy--a science ship with 5,000 square feet of laboratory and support space that charges through the remote waters of the Arctic Ocean. The ship carries a large crew of scientists and specialists to...