Most independent projects that use the Kinect are not related to video games, so I was thrilled when I read about Theo Watson, who was able to make a Kinect game in just 3 hours. Unfortunately I’m pretty sure no publisher in his right mind will release it, because Watson’s game is virtual Russian Roulette.

Watson made the game using openFrameworks 007 and ofxKinect. As you can see in the screenshot above, Watson’s game uses the player’s hand as the revolver. The controls are simple – make a gun gesture with your hand, point it to your head and then move your thumb downwards to shoot. There is a one in eight chance that the gun will go off. Watch Watson’s demo to see what happens if you’re unlucky:

It could be a fun mini-game if it wasn’t so wrong. Watson said he’ll post his game’s source code soon, so if you want to take a chance without taking a chance, keep an eye on his blog for updates.

[via The Escapist]

Technabob

Bundt cake and chocolate-dipped strawberry, cookies. S’mores and hot cocoa, double-scoop ice cream cones, Jell-O. S’mores, caramel apples, key lime pie on rings. These are a handful of of my favored factors. How could we reside in a planet with no these delicious desserts? Instead of consuming them all at once, you can collect Kidrobot Yummy Dessert Keychains.

Everyone knows that dessert is the very best meal of the day. From cookies to pie to jello molds, these adorable keychains from Kid Robot and Heidi Kenney are enjoyable to discover and cute as all heck. Blind assortment, so no one knows what you will get! Every keychain measures around 2″

When Kidrobot gets behind a product, you know it’s going to be full of enjoyable and surprises. They did a stint with Swatch watches which was simply called Kidrobot for Swatch. They also gave us the indispensable Family Guy Mini Figures. Now, they’re giving us what we love most: sweets. The fun part of getting a Yummy Dessert keychain is that you do not know which dessert you will finish up with. They say ignorance is bliss.

There is such a thing as getting too considerably dessert, but keychains? In no way. So collect them all if you can get your hands on them. You have to get on Fred Flare’s waiting list in order to buy Kidrobot Yummy Dessert Keychains for $ 6.50 each. The delicacies are expected to arrive in stock at the end of April. Also hit Hot Topic where they are every $ 6.

GeekAlerts

Corning Incorporated, identified for its Gorilla Glass produced two announcements right now with respect to Samsung. Corning has renewed its agreement with Samsung Corning Precision Supplies (SCP) and the AMLCD division of Samsung Electronics (SEC) for 5 a lot more years. Corning renewed its technology license agreement with SCP whereas renewed its extended term provide commitment to SEC.

Meanwhile, Corning also entered into an agreement with Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) to manufacture glass substrates for OLED devices. The new organization will be situated in South Korea and will create goods and solutions for OLED technologies utilized in mobile devices to TVs. The venture will also provide OLED backplane glass substrates.

Sammy Hub

It is been a busy week here at TechRadar cameras, with launches coming early in the week from Nikon and Panasonic, but it was Pentax that grabbed all the headlines this week with its brand new compact method camera that has been developed by Marc Newson and is already causing a divide in the workplace.

If you have missed any of the massive news this week, here’s a opportunity to catch up with every thing that is been happening, every single with hyperlinks to the complete story. Do not forget, you can join us more than on Facebook and Twitter to preserve up with all the most recent news.

Pentax news

It really is been the biggest story of the week, as the new mirrorless camera from Pentax was finally unveiled on Thursday. Pentax very first entered the compact system camera market with the Q final year, but the new camera is a considerably bigger providing and attributes support for existing K-Mount lenses. It is also been created by Marc Newson, and its distinctive style is something we predict will either be loved or hated. Check out our Hands on: Pentax K-01 assessment with video to aid make your mind up.

It wasn’t all very good news this week for the firm even so, as it revealed that the Pentax Q had not lived up to expectations saleswise.

Nikon news

Nikon refreshed its compact camera line-up this week, with a number of new models entering the range. These included the Coolpix P510, a 42x optical zoom bridge camera, the Coolpix P310, an upgrade to the high-finish P300 camera and the Nikon Coolpix S30, a waterproof and shockproof camera that is the company’s extremely very first &quotfamily&quot camera.

Last year, it was reported that compact camera sales had declined by about 30%, but that doesn’t worry Nikon, the business told us. In reality, they say they are still growing in a shrinking market place.

Canon news

No camera launches this week from Canon, but a new printer has been unveiled. The PIXMA MG4150 is a Wi-Fi enabled all in 1 printer designed to appeal to students and households.

The release came in the same week as it was announced that Canon’s President Tsuneji Uchida will step down, with his role becoming filled by the existing CEO, Fujio Mitarai.

Panasonic news

Yet another organization to unveil its spring range of compacts, Panasonic announced seven new cameras this week. These contain the superzooms TZ25 and TZ30 and two new rugged cameras. Have a look at our Hands on: Panasonic TZ25 evaluation and Hands on: Panasonic TZ30 critique to get a closer look at two of the new compacts.

Olympus news

Immediately after Polaroid announced its &quotsmart camera&quot at CES 2012, we’ve been keen to find out if apps for cameras would be creating their way onto other manufacturers’ models. Olympus told us that apps had been &quoton the list&quot and would at some point make their way onto cameras at some point in the future…. we’ll keep our eyes peeled then.

That is it for this week, subsequent week we’re expecting huge issues as the CP+ photography show kicks off in Japan. Make certain to remain tuned for all the most recent camera news and critiques.

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The 5-year study appears to have paid off satisfactorily. We are hoping it hits best gear.
OhGizmo

Newlaunches.com

RIM’s battle is a long and tiring one against the predominant mobile platforms in the industry. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop put it best: “The industry has shifted from a battle of devices, to a war of ecosystems.” In other words, a smartphone or a tablet is only as good as the apps it runs.

This is good news for some — namely, Apple and Google. The two dominant mobile application platforms currently offer the majority of smart-device apps, boasting numbers in the hundreds of thousands. But for underdogs like RIM, it foretells a grim outlook on the future of the company’s mobile platform.

In an effort to claw its way back into the game, RIM has settled on a new strategy. Effective today until Feb. 13, every Android developer who ports an Android application over to the BlackBerry ecosystem will receive a free PlayBook, according to a recent tweet sent by RIM VP of developer relations Alec Saunders.

It’s part of a broader attempt to seed not only seed the market with devices but also spur further app development. The more hardware on the market, the more likely developers will create code for the tablets. At first blush, this may seem like an effective strategy. But some analysts say RIM is going about this in the wrong way.

“Developers don’t need free devices to develop. They target those platforms that give them the biggest chance to sell their products,” Gartner analyst Phillip Redman told Wired. “Those that have larger market share will attract more developers.”

The app worlds of Apple and Google dwarf RIM’s offering, which stands at approximately 50,000 apps. To be fair, that’s about what you get with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, and it’s far more impressive number than, say, the 10,000-odd apps available for HP’s ill-fated webOS. But it’s literally one-tenth the number of apps Apple has in its App Store.

The good news is that RIM is trying. Amid a hostile mobile environment with its own collapsing market share, RIM released its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in April of last year, the supposed comeback device that would leverage RIM’s enterprise strength with enhanced security options, while simultaneously going after the consumer market and, ultimately, taking on the iPad.

Well, that didn’t work. The PlayBook was a complete flop, with shipping estimates in the hundreds of thousands for 2011. Compare that to iPad sales, which reached nearly 15 million in the company’s first fiscal quarter alone. Thus RIM’s new strategy: Give ‘em away.

But this may not work either. What incentive do developers have to create more apps for PlayBooks when it’s other developers — not consumers, the main purveyors of apps — who are getting all the free PlayBooks? Think of it as play for market traction, only backwards. If anything, it makes more sense to seed devices with consumers, a tack RIM has attempted to take in recent months.

Last year, during Black Friday — a veritable holiday celebrating capitalism in the U.S. — RIM slashed prices of existing PlayBook inventory to a fraction of the $ 500 they initially sold for, causing a rapid sell-out in third-party retailers and a back-log of orders at RIM’s warehouses (immediately inviting comparisons to HP’s TouchPad fire sale earlier in the year). RIM liked the promotion so much the company tried it again in January.

The other side of RIM’s latest effort is also strange. Let’s parse it out: Android developers will get a free BlackBerry tablet if they port an Android app to work in the PlayBook’s virtual Android environment. The idea is to leverage the existing glut of Android apps available by allowing developers to bring them over to RIM’s PlayBook.

The question is: how compelled am I to purchase a BlackBerry device in order to use Android apps? Why not just purchase an Android device?

Rather than leech off of Android’s superior market position, RIM’s best bet at this point is to beef up its handset and tablet portfolio with quality products. Or as IDC analyst Al Hilwa puts it: “There is very little magic RIM can do with consumer ecosystems at this point except deliver killer devices that consumers want to buy.”

RIM was unable to make an executive available for interview before this story’s time of publication.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll see those devices any time soon. RIM announced its latest line of BlackBerry 10 smartphones — the one line to bring the PlayBook’s QNX operating system to smartphones for the first time — will be delayed until late 2012, a release date much further off than the company had originally anticipated.

We have hope. The PlayBook was rushed out the door to make its April 2011 debut last year, and summarily crashed and burned. If the company can take its time with its OS revamp, perhaps it can find its way back to a seat at the mobile ecosystem table.