Filed under: Macworld, Cult of Mac, Apple

Every other year for the last 7 years, Shawn King of the Your Mac Life podcast has given the Apple faithful a chance to go on a pilgrimage to 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino, the location of Apple headquarters.

As part of our continuing coverage of Macworld Expo 2009, Christina Warren and yours truly hopped on the bus along with about 30 other alpha geeks to visit the Mecca of Macdom and pick up some Apple swag at the Company Store. Former TUAW blogger and Realmac Software PR Ninja Nik Fletcher joined to take photos.

I dropped some spendolas on Apple gear, including a logo hat, long-sleeve black mock tee, polo shirt, and three big coffee mugs. C-mac, being the resident TUAW fashionista, bought an Apple notebook (the kind with paper sheets in it), a couple of pens, a navy hoodie, a knit cap, two caps (one knit, one military), and a short sleeve tee.

There were several prize drawings on the ride home, and I won an 8GB blue iPod nano courtesy of a “Secret Santa.” Suh-weeet!

It’s too late to join this year’s Tour de Cupertino, but keep your eyes and ears open before future Macworld Expos to see if Shawn is planning another trip. Check out the gallery below.

TUAWC-Mac and Steve’s excellent Cupertino adventure originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Biz

The new year is only a few days old and it’s already spawned its first new independent game studio. That company happens to be Arizona-based Azo Studios, formed by three veteran game developers. One of the co-founders is Dave Eberly who was the chief architect behind the NetImmerse game engine that later evolved into the more advanced Gamebryo engine.

The company is short on details at this point on their plans, saying that they have plans to “develop video game titles and middleware solutions for console systems, personal computers, and handheld devices.” It sound like they want to develop both games and game engines that can be licensed to third parties similar to developers like Epic Games, id Software, Crytek and Valve. It’s already a crowded field in that regard so it will be interesting to see if Azo can make a run of it.

Azo Studios launches originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sports

We tend to think of demos as free gifts from the gaming overlords, which would make the Skate 2 demo coming on Thursday to Xbox Live a gift within a gift, like a Hickory Farms sampler wrapped in a Snuggie. Just for downloading the demo and registering here, you could win MS points and, curiously, one of six custom Skate 2 skateboards, which should look great sitting idly in your garage.

Thanks to the Thursday placement, we’re assuming this’ll pop up simultaneously on PSN, just without all the free prizes.

[Via Team Xbox]

Skate 2 demo coming Thursday originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Multimedia

Elgato’s EyeTV Hybrid has long been the standout among the Mac options for HD television tuners, in large part because it comes with the excellent EyeTV software for program guide info, scheduling and recording. This week, the product gets an overhaul with refreshed hardware (including an FM radio tuner) and the new 3.1 version of the application with a bundled copy of Toast Basic for DVD burning; the combo is impressive. The revised software swaps out the TitanTV electronic program guide source for the more detailed (and, after the first free year, $20 paid-subscription) TV Guide data. The new EyeTV Hybrid is immediately available in the USA and Canada for US $149.95 and works on Mac OS X 10.4.11 and higher; decoding HD content requires an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU. EyeTV 3.1 will be released as a free update for existing owners in the coming weeks.

EyeTV’s hardware has always packed some impressive functionality into a small USB dongle; however, the previous units (designed and built by OEMs like Pinnacle and Hauppauge for bundling with the EyeTV app) didn’t always shine when it came to holding onto weak HDTV signals, and recordings were sometimes plagued with dropouts and jitter when used with borderline-adequate antennas. The new hardware design has been insourced to EyeTV’s team and custom-built with a focus on improving signal handling; the results are pretty good.

In my preliminary testing with the new unit I got much better signal on some stations that had previously been on the fringe, and the picture is still crystal-clear (HD sporting events on a 24″ iMac screen are a revelation). The only annoying quirk I saw in the EyeTV 3.1 app was a propensity for the video aspect ratio to flop between 16×9 and 4×3 as commercials or other standard-ratio content interrupted a widescreen program. Other than that, it works quite well, even with a $12 pair of Radio Shack rabbit ears.

The new TV Guide program info is quite a bit more detailed than the Titan TV or over-the-air ATSC listings, with full cast and capsule review data available. EyeTV now allows for a ‘season pass’ preset that will capture all episodes of a particular program, and parental controls are now implemented to allow responsible adults some control over the viewing and recording habits of the household. Recording a show is still just as easy, although you need to maintain a Titan TV account to do remote scheduling; the iPhone and iPod conversion and WiFi sharing capabilities remain as before, and can be supercharged via the turbo.264 outboard compression dongle. As always, be sure to keep plenty of hard drive space available if you want to maintain a library of HD recordings.

We’ll be stopping by Elgato’s booth at Macworld Expo this week for a video tour of EyeTV 3.1; if you’re at the show, you can catch them at booth #2126. See the gallery below for some views of the new hardware and software.

TUAWEyeTV Hybrid hardware gets a performance boost originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Videos, Crossovers/CUVs, Cadillac

The current Cadillac SRX is a competent vehicle, although it hasn’t come close to selling as many units as the Lexus RX350, let alone the Acura MDX. GM is looking to change that with the thoroughly revised 2010 Cadillac SRX. Gone are the station wagon looks and rear wheel drive, and in its place is a new front drive platform and sheetmetal that looks the part of a true crossover contender. General Motors has ditched its larger powertrains for an efficient 3.0L, direct injected V6 and a 300 horsepower, 2.8L turbocharged unit that have the potential to quell fears that the new 2010 model will be lacking in the performance department. We had the chance to speak with Cadillac Marketing Director Steve Shannon to get an in-depth tour of the new SRX, and you can get the inside story in the video after the jump.

Continue reading VIDEO: 2010 Cadillac SRX in detail

VIDEO: 2010 Cadillac SRX in detail originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: By the Numbers

We didn’t know sales for the U.S. auto industry in 2008 would be this bad when the year began, but it sure ended on a fitting note. Over the past six months or so we’ve seen the U.S. auto sales market nearly collapse and almost take our own domestic auto industry with it.

Nevertheless, there were a couple of standouts. Both MINI and Subaru somehow managed to post sales gains in 2008 compared to the previous year. The success of MINI is likely due to production capacity more than popularity, but we have no explanation for Subaru other than its sales staff is more persuasive than at your average car dealership.

As for the big dogs, despite the whole lot of them being hit equally hard over the past few months, Japanese automakers had a stronger first half of 2008. As such, their year-end sales data looks better than the domestics with Toyota being the worst performing Japanese automaker at -15.4% and Honda fairing the best with a drop of just 7.91%. In comparison, Ford Motor Company (-20.7%) and General Motors (-22.9%) were equally unimpressive while the Chrysler Group hemorrhaged sales and finished down a full 30%.

As for the rest of the auto industry, it’s all their below and it isn’t pretty.

2008 had 308 selling days versus 307 selling days for 2007

By The Numbers – 2008: Phew! Glad That’s Over Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Euro, Green, Honda

We’re still six days away from the official unveiling of the 2009 Honda Insight at the Detroit Auto Show, but the crew at Carscoop just couldn’t wait to release images of the European-spec hybrid ahead of its debut.

The Euro model shown here won’t differ too much from the U.S. version, but the stylistic differences between the production version and its conceptual predecessor are obvious at first glance. As we’ve seen before, the front fascia carries over largely unchanged, although the technorific LED headlamps, deeply recessed fog lamps/air intakes and gaudy brightwork are all left on the designer’s desk. The side mirrors have grown in proportion to the door handles, and the C-pillar is noticeably thicker than the concept that bowed in Paris. The rear has also been smoothed over, with the Prius-esque (or is that CRX-inspired?) hatch losing a bit of glass, along with the contoured cut-out for the license plate, which is now mounted lower on the bumper, with a prominent “H” badge floating on a body-colored panel.

Although the interior hasn’t been revealed in full, we get a brief glimpse of the central-mounted tach, “eco” gauges and second tier speedo, which benefits from a backlight that transitions from green to blue when the driver mashes the accelerator and unleashes the full fury of the small-displacement engine through the CVT gearbox.

Sales will begin in the U.S. and abroad this spring, with a starting price rumored to hover around $20,000.

[Source: Carscoop]

Leakage: Euro-spec 2009 Honda Insight originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: MMO

The folks at CCP seem to continue to grow interest in their long running space-based MMO EVE Online. Earlier today the game’s official web site announced that they have reached a new concurrent user number for the game (that is the total number of players at one time)

That new record number, reached sometime in the first few days of 2009, was a whopping 45,186 players online at once. That’s impressive for a game that for most of its life has been distributed via download. That will change later this year as Atari plans to distribute a retail version of EVE Online that will contain the original game and all of its extensive free expansion.

{Via Massively]

EVE Online reaches new concurrent user record originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Business

GameStop will no longer accept trade-ins on original Xbox games, systems, or accessories beginning Febuary 9, 2009. Although GameStop corporate wouldn’t verify this information during its “quiet period” leading to Thursday’s holiday sales report, several local shops confirmed the policy when we called. Employees were unaware if something similar would be implemented for PS2 or GameCube in the near future.

Those looking to unload their original Xbox and dozens of games for the whopping sum of $12.87 (that’s just a guess), should head on down to GameStop before the deadline.

[Thanks, Jake]

GameStop suspending Xbox trade-ins starting Feb. 9 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That’s right — it’s CES time again at Engadget! It goes without saying that this is one of the most exciting events of the year for us, as CES presents an almost unyielding vista of new gadgetry to play with. We’ll be covering all the news you could possibly hope for (and then some), including press conferences, keynote addresses, and lots and lots (and lots!) of hands-on encounters with every piece of new tech we can find. You can be sure we’ll be updating the site minute-to-minute as the news flows in.

You can view the news in the regular format that you’re used to here on the front page, or you can head over to ces.engadget.com, where the stories are presented in shortened versions so you can see more of what’s breaking. We’ve also reorganized the sidebar to the right to keep you informed on all the biggest stories, and there’s a ticker on top of it that’ll let you see what event is up next.

So sit back, relax, and get ready for the craziest few days in consumer electronics you’ll ever see. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Filed under: Announcements

Engadget is live from CES 2009! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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