Sonys 'unofficial' blog, ThreeSpeech.com has just announced a summer launch date for PlayStation 3's much anticipated EyeToy.
PlayStation 3 is very good at being compatable with any plug and play USB webcam, including the XBox 360's own special camera.
So? What can we expect from the shiny new camera, designed specifically for PlayStation 3 and it's future apps such as Home.
Here are the key features of the new EyeToy:
- A sophisticated microphone with the ability to reduce background noise and focus on the spoken word for smoother, more accurate speech recognition and transfer
- The ability to capture videos and audio clips directly to your PS3’s hard disk drive
- Engineered to perform well even in low-light conditions
- A range of different capturing modes, including slow motion and time-lapse
- Faster frame rate for improved tracking, responsiveness and smoothness
- Two position zoom lens for close-up and full body options
- A range of eye-catching visual effects to apply to photos and videos
- Bundled with EyeCreate™ editing software, which allows users to save and edit photos, video and audio clips
I've many happy memories of playing with the original EyeToy, I even had my Dad waving his arms around trying to play EyeToy once. It was prone to the novelty wearing off after a while though. With Wii and social gaming now more popular than ever, many people have some high hopes for Sony's next generation Eye Toy.
Features such as the better performance in low light conditions are much needed. Capturing photos and video is also a good feature (which makes me wonder about the extent to which SingStar might take advantage of these capabilities).
ThreeSpeech goes on to say more about the software included, and some of the functionality in the New PlayStation Eye...
EyeCreate software
EyeCreate editing software, bundled free with PLAYSTATION Eye allows you to save photos, video and audio clips to your PS3 hard disk drive and apply eye-catching visual effects to your images. Different capture modes like time-lapse and slow motion open up a world of possibilities to be explored further in EyeCreate’s editing suite, where you can turn your media into professional looking movies.
New microphone functions
An all-new four microphone array, incorporating multidirectional voice location tracking, enhanced echo cancelling and background noise suppression allows for clear audio chat in even the most noisy of environments, without the need to hold or wear a headset.
Next-generation camera features
A frame rate of up to 120 frames per second allows for super-smooth video and sophisticated low-light operation means that the room doesn’t have to be brightly lit for the camera to deliver crisp, perfectly exposed video. The adjustable zoom lens features a 56º field of view to capture head and shoulders action for close-in audio-visual chat, and a 75º field of view to capture the whole body for a fully physical gaming experience.
Technical Specifications:
- 4 channel audio input:16 bits/channel, 48kHz, SNR 90db
- 56º to 75º Field of View zoom lens
- 2.1 F-stop, <1% distortion, fixed focus (25cm to 8 at 75º FOV)
- 640 x 480 at 60 frames/second
- 320 x 240 at 120 frames/second
- USB2 high-speed data transfer
- Uncompressed video or optional JPEG compression
Previous rumours of the new EyeToy were all touting 'HD' but it appears as if HD has been left out of the equation for the EyeToys video capture. Just VGA resolution? Pffft. They could've least have given us a widescreen format. The 120fps is at a mere 320x240. Whilst this may have little or no compression, it's the same physical dimensions that my mobile phone captures video at.
The original EyeToy had a maximum resolution of 640x480, so I'm guessing that the 60fps is a big improvement (though I can't find technical specifications about it's framerate).
So, perhaps not the revolution we were hoping for, but a nice little accessory none the less. Now - on to the games!
Oops!
Sorry, you need the Flash player to view this content.
Just found this on my phone recently from a mate who gave it to me ages ago.
It's some recording of a phone in on a radio station, but it's pretty darn funny...
I OWN TWO GOOSE.
I'm not normally a fan of even the word 'DivX'. It's like some arogant codec that people have to go on and on about when ranting about which codecs some new techy device supports. But this next titbit bit of news is a definate plus point on the DivX sheet of things done good.
DivX Stage 6 BETA is essentially another YouTube site, only it promises much more than the smelly old YouTube. Offering hugely superior compression technology than Flash, and the ability to upload videos of up to 1080p resolution, it actually has something special to shout about. It also allows you to download videos, which is never a bad thing.
The only minus point is that you have to install the 'DivX web player', which isn't particuarly great considering the Flash Player penetration for video playback is something like 99%. But at least the plugin installs within the browser, and no need for downloading an .exe file with lots of extra software you don't need. It's fairly inoffensive.
After checking a few videos, I'm very impressed with the quality, even at full screen most videos remain clear and crisp. If DivX start talking around to get their web player pre installed in various browser versions, the DivX web player could be a contender for Flash video.
So, yes. DivX Stage 6 BETA ftw.
Oops!
Sorry, you need the Flash player to view this content.
The new trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Not normally my cup of tea (other than dressing up as a Pirate), but then I do love the films and this game is looking very nice. The swagger of Capt' Jack Sparrow as he walks up the sun-drenched mooring is really quite good.
Coming to 360 & PlayStation 3 sometime in the future.
If you've met Mabel, you'll know how mental she is. Especially at around 6 o'clock in the evening when her energy levels hit peak. Her eyes are eagerly focused on a toy out of shot, being swung round on the air on a piece of string.
Mabel is my Mums dog and spending the weekend in Cornwall has let me find out how Mabel is doing, who is now 1 year old. Wire Haired Fox Terrier (aka Terror), if you didn't know.
She's great.
Oops!
Sorry, you need the Flash player to view this content.
The new Ninja Gaiden Sigma trailer hit the web recently and it's not looking too bad. Re-developed for PlayStation 3 and apparently running at a smooth 60fps @ 720p, it's no ugly duckling. Mind you, it's not quite Heavenly Sword...
The HD version is worth checking out if you're picky about these things...
I'll be checking out the demo which is touted as hitting the Jap & U.S PS Stores by the end of April, so watch out for those updates.
It looks like Ubuntu is now available for PlayStation 3.
Ubuntu is regarded by many as one of the most user-friendly Linux installations, dubbing itself ‘Linux for human beings’. The version available is v7.04, aka Feisty Fawn.
Linux on PlayStation 3 isn’t for everyone, but then if you’ve shelled out £425 for a PlayStation 3, having the ability to use it as a full desktop operating system is a definate bonus.
Previously, I installed Fedora Core 5 on to my PlayStation 3 and was very impressed with the results. I’ll probably be poking around with this latest Ubuntu release at some stage to see how it competes with Fedora.
Oops!
Sorry, you need the Flash player to view this content.
From the comedy genius of Darth Maul, no less (ahem, Peter Serafinowicz) - this is absolutely classic.
It's a series I managed to somehow totally miss, inbetween watching Big Train, Spaced, Black Books, Brass Eye and all the other similarly awesome shows.
Not to worry though, Look Around You is apparently available on DVD.
Monday was Bank holiday, and a beautiful sunny down down on the South Coast of England. Morris Dancing is an English tradition and on Bank Holidays it's quite normal to bump in to Morris Dancers (normally around beer). So where better to find Morris Dancers this Bank Holiday Monday than at The Red Lion Inn, Shoreham-by-Sea where there was a Beer festival taking place.
Great beer and great dancing! Plus a crazy man galloping around on a home made horse.
Virgin Radio is now available on PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles. It's good to see - Virgin Radio has a great history of being available on a wide range of devices. And if I'm not mistaken, was the first European radio station to stream online and they've been streaming on lot's of different formats over the years.
And if you're wondering how to listen to it, it's pretty darn easy:
- Open the internet browser on your PS3 or your Wii
- Go to virginradio.co.uk/listen
- Hit the "Listen now" button
So, nice one Criddas & Co
After trying it out - it actually gives you access, on the same page, to music videos (via YouTube) aswell as exclusive live session tracks.
And perhaps best of all, it chirpily tells me "Oh my! What a big screen you have.".
It's not wrong.