Jay Garrett’s Gadget News

Most leaks come from employees that are less than water-tight, clever marketing or just pure out-and-out rumours.
Microsoft has invented a new way of leaking insider knowledge.
Pocketpicks have spotted a Microsoft Job advertisement that manages to spill more product info than their average press release and waggle-tongued employees combined.
It reads:
“Do you dream about having a mobile phone based entertainment experience powered [...]

Do you feel lonely in bed?
Would you feel better if you had a comfy, snuggly, alien fluff monster to cuddle up to?
Well, artist Francesca Lanzavecchia presents “LightMates”
These “soft anthropomorphic pillows and warming lamps” are supposed to keep you company and all snuggled up at night.
They come in different sizes, depending on how much anthropomorphic love [...]

There’s so many ‘Hello Kitty’ products out there from car tyres to AK47’s, yup, really!
So I tend to let them all drift by and let other sites mention them.
This, however, is pretty noteworthy in a twisted, still a heap of junk, but fun kinda way.
It will cost you $25 and that buys you a Hello [...]

Word on the streets, well, from IGN, is that Nintendo are up to something in deepest Kyoto…
A third generation of the DS with dual touchscreen displays one of them being widescreen no less.
If this is true then it is big news indeedy. IGN says the rumored release date of April or May 2009 doesn’t give enough time for a [...]

The Electric Pig has had a chat with Spore and Sim City creator, Will Wright, who has just revealed that the iPhone version of Spore would go live on Apple’s app store this Friday!
FTW!!!!!!
Spore is the ambitious new life simulator from Wright & co that has been developed over the last 7 years.
I think it probably goes without saying [...]

Yup - me reviewing a book!
I was as amazed as the rest of you when Liz from publishers Dorling Kindersley sent me this particular tome to read and review for this site!
But once I got it in my hands all became clear.
Cool Stuff Exploded sounds a tad dangerous and pretty much bad news for the [...]

I can remember my brother coming home from piantballing covered in bruises but sporting that grin that says he was actually enjoying this form of ‘friendly fire’.
Now, this is more my thing:
The Paintball Panzer from Funtrak is a mini-tank that will spew forth colourful death (well, pain at least) whilst keeping your body haematoma free!
The integrated [...]

Step back into the light and away from The Dark Side.
Light your path with this pretty funky Star Wars Lightsaber LED Torch.
Switch on this full sized replica and not only will it throw purifying blue light forth from the ultra bright LED, but you also get the trademark power-up noise.
Features:

Full size replica Lightsaber style LED [...]

I’ve been expecting a new controller for the Xbox 360 but I thought a motion sensative jobby was on the cards a la WiiMote - instead what they’re offering is a “refined version” of the regular unit with a better D-pad. 
It will be dressed in limited edition green (frankly it couldn’t be limited enough for me!), and [...]

More Sony-based news from the Leipzig Games Convention!
Sony is said to be launching a wireless keypad attachment for the PS3 that will snap onto the top of your SIXAXIS or DUALSHOCK3 controller into the mini-USB port.
This pad features a “touchpad mode” for mouse input and can be paired with phones and other gadgets via Bluetooth.
Look for a Novemeber [...]

Here we go!
Sony has finally announced the birth of the PSP-3000 at the Leipzig Games Convention.
The unit itself will look exactly like the PSP-2000 although it has been kitted out with an “improved screen that’s better outside with no glare and a built-in mic”.
The rest of the stuff n things aren’t out of the bag [...]

There’s been word for a while that the big M would be launching a SideWinder-branded keyboard by Autumn this year and the Redmond-based folks are keeping the hype alive with an all new September-bound board and mouse 1-2.
The SideWinder X6 is hailed as the “first gaming keyboard created by Microsoft from the ground up, and the only gaming keyboard [...]

If you’re looking for a medium spec phone for high-end ca$h - loook no further!
Nokia are wanting people just like you to spend that cash all in the name of Arte.
Or should I say; the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte.
I’m reckoning that the average punter who’ll even consider this mobile wont be buying it for the 3G connectivity, 3.2-megapixel auto focus [...]

The unmistakable buzz of the Fantasty Football Leagues in the office means only one thing - footy season is here again.
If you have a PSP then the joy is twofold as you’ll now be able watch your team on the Sony handheld.
You’ll be able to grab 45 minutes of extended highlights from Sky Sports matches to take on the [...]

You will, by now, be aware of the Wii MotionPlus add on that enables the WiiMote to more accurately reflect your motions in a 3-D space.
This means that every slight movement players make with their wrist or arm is rendered identically in real time on the screen, providing a true 1:1 response in their game play.
This is all good news [...]

EA is using Torrents to distribute the Warhammer Online: The Reckoning beta to gamers.
Blizzard has been using BitTorrent for World of Warcraft patches for a while now so EA wont be the first company to embrace the protocol.
The beta has also made its way onto the likes of Pirate Bay.
Of course, without proper login credentials, you’ll be downloading over 9GB of [...]

If you are serious about Xbox gaming then keeping tabs on your ‘friends’ becomes essential.
How much practise are they getting in?  What’s their kill/spawn ratio like? How much time do they spend online?  All this becomes quite important.
Now you can check things like this whilst you’re wondering home back from the take-away.
iXboxLive is an unofficial application which was launched [...]

Microsoft have announced the release of the 60GB Xbox trippling the Xbox’s usual 20GB drive while keeping the same £200 price tag!
The new model will be available from 15 August (Friday) and will replace all existing 20GB models.
Of course, there’s still the option of the Xbox Arcade, which lacks a hard drive, but packs a 256MB [...]

Nintendo’s hardware developers are already working on the next generation of the Nintendo Wii.
The Times Online has a statement from Nintendo’s President, Satoru Iwata, where he is quoted as saying:
 
“The hardware team started work on the next thing as soon as they were done with their previous project, but what they think up doesn’t necessarily become a [...]

Remember back in January I reported about Tri-bot and Rovio?
Well it looks like Rovio is available for pre-order from Red5! :0)
Just to remind you lot why you should get this bot - you can control it from anywhere in the world and keep an eye on your home via streaming video and audio through a built-in [...]