Kick Ass Kung Fu is a video game that will actually make you get  off your couch to fight your enemies. The current prototype,  developed by researchers at Helsinki University of Technology in  Finland, uses a camera to record your punches, kicks, and  head-butts and displays them on a giant screen.   The University has created a company, Animaatiokone Industries,  to bring Kick Ass Kung Fu to home consoles. The game will debut  in arcades and camera-equipped consoles (such as the EyeToy for  PlayStation 2). The other hurdle the game needs to overcome  before its commercial debut? In the prototype, the game takes up  an entire room. To make it into your living room, Animaatiokone  will have to recognized body movements in a fraction of that  space.   And we’re not talking lame Kung Fu here. We’re talking Kick Ass  Kung Fu. For his thesis, Hämäläinen used 46 martial arts experts  to test the game. The next test will be in October during the  2006 Karate World Championships in Finland.  Kick Ass!  

iUbi Blue PMP2500B is a new player that boasts a 4.3-inch widescreen TFT LCD display with ultra-fast response times, 16.7 m colors and an impressive resolution of 480 x 272 pixel. The razor sharp screen on the iubi Blue is a visual treat and more than capable of supporting hours of movie magic. The best thing is probably the huge supports for every video codec under the roof including MPEG 1, 2, 4 DivX 3.X, DivX 4.X, DivX 5.X, Svid, WMV9, H.264, AVI, OGM, WMV 7, 8, MOV and Real video. MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, AC-3, ASF, AAC-LC, G.726 for video is also included in the package deal. Videos and movies run at an ultra smooth 30 frames per second with support for 720 x 480 pixel playback (8Mbps).The 2500B can also record video through TV-in (MPEG4, 640 x 480 @ 30fps) and it has a USB-OTG port built-in, allowing you to directly download the contents of other USB devices onto the player. Along with multi-codec support (MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, L-Pcm), the player also features a surprisingly effective stereo loudspeaker via Bluetooth support wireless headphones. With this uBi Blue PMP2500B, you can record straight into MPEG4 from your TV, DVD player or VHS player, allowing you to record up to 75 hours of video footage. It can play video files for 8 hours continuously and audio tracks for about 15 hours in a fully charged battery.

iRiver presented new iRiver N12 exclusive portable musics player.Its the heir of the N11 model, and it comes with famous Swarovski crystal. Built in 1GB of memory, plays mp3, wma, asf and ogg files, if 1GB of music is not enough for you FM tuner can expands music variety. SRS WOW 2.0 3D sound technology provides superb quality with full and rich sound.Built in Equalizers with 10 presets and 5 user settings allows you to fully customize sound. N12 have just a 22g, and built in OLED display with 16 shades of gray.PC connection is available throe fast USB 2.0, while transferring music it also charge built in battery.Built in li-ion battery provides about 7 hours of music reproduction, which is not as good as we expecting from exclusive product like this.iRiver N12 will be available only on Asia market, with price around $200, and there is no word about when it will be available on other markets.

Check out the brand new E10 from iriver Japan, a 6GB hard drive-based portable media player made available in a totally lightweight 76 gram package. The E10 is slim as well, and at 14mm gives competition to several other DAPs out there today. The iriver also happens to use Macromedia Flash Lite 2.0 - so look out for some very cool Flash games.Incorporating a lithium polymer power source, iriver claims a 32-hour running time on a single charge. The E10 presents a smart and intuitive user interface, and the color screen allows you to express your personality with wallpapers.

The June 2006-released Apple iPod U2 Special Edition is a 5th generation iPod version of the original 2004 iPod U2 Special Edition. As a fifth-generation iPod, its’ 30 GB storage can hold up to 7,500 songs, 25,000 photo images, and over 75 hours of video. It comes in all-black stainless steel casing, red Click Wheel, and unique custom engraving of the signatures of all U2 band members.

Product Review

Apple iPod, true to its tradition of churning out the latest and most innovative iPod models every so often, makes another loud statement with the launching of the new Apple iPod U2 Special Edition last June 2006.

As a 5th generation iPod, this latest Apple release is basically a slight improvement of its original 2004-released audio-only predecessor. Aesthetically pleasing as it comes in jet- black color, bears a red Apple Click Wheel, full-color 2.5-inch display, and the rare custom-engraved signatures of the U2 band members on the flip side of the unit. The set includes tracks every U2 album, 25 rare and unreleased tracks, and the soon-to-be-released “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. As a bonus, buyers will also receive 30 minutes of exclusive U2 video of music videos and band interviews that are downloadable from the iTunes Music Store. The good news is after all that U2 music content, you still have room for 4,600 more songs.

Other than the foregoing features mentioned, the Apple iPod U2 Special Edition does not really offer new radical features that would make it different from its class. Like all iPods, the new Apple iPod U2 Special Edition features a seamless integration with the iTunes Music Store and the tunes digital music jukebox. If playing music on this new iPod is not enough, heighten your entertainment satisfaction with Apple’s patent-pending Auto-Sync technology that automatically downloads digital music, podcasts, photos, audiobooks, home movies, music videos and popular television shows. Just plug the iPod U2 Special Edition into a Mac or Windows PC via a USB 2.0, and iTunes will systematically auto-sync with iPod perfectly. With this feature, iTunes will seamlessly detect new downloaded, CD-imported or purchased tunes, and transfer it to iPod.

Other features:

· Up to 14 hours of battery life for music playback
· Works with Mac OS X or Windows 2000, and Window XP compatible;
· Includes FireWire and USB 2.0 interface for digital transfer
· Packed with earbud headphones, AC adapter, FireWire cable, and USB 2.0 cable for data transfer

Trusted Reviews were able to get their hands on the HP iPaq rx1950 Navigator GPS Bundle, which now is a quite an outdated concept since most consumers prefer opting for a full fledged GPS device. The site however likes the PDA and its overall functionality which they found to be pocket friendly and light. However , when it comes to GPS functionality, the HP iPaq rx1950 fails and be it the software, the 3D display, the details on the maps and the interface all were disappointing.The iPaq rx1950 Navigator GPS Bundle is a result of the partnership between HP and ViaMichelin and uses Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 as its OS and an updated Microsoft Office software. It has integrated Wi-Fi (802.11b) for high-speed wireless access to the Internet and e-mail and is compact enough to be secured in a car. The car cradle contains the integrated SSiRFstar III GPS receiver, in addition to built in speakers and a windshield mount suction cup. ViaMichelin provides all the maps and other GPS information. The whole bundle includes HP iPAQ rx1950 PDA, a cradle for the PDA, and ViaMichelin software.In the end the website writes: “GPS moved to stand alone devices because of the clunkiness of the separate PDA and GPS solution and nothing here indicates that this was a bad thing. The hx1950 is a decent PDA but the shortcomings of Windows Mobile 5 as a platform for GPS are highlighted by crashes. Things might be improved with better navigation software but I’d still recommend going for a dedicated in-car GPS solution or one that works on a smartphone, such as this package from Navicore”.