Logitech Introduces Multi-Touch Lapdesk

Logitech Touch Lapdesk N600 Features Large, Retractable Touchpad with Multi-Touch Pointing, Swiping, Scrolling

PRESS RELEASE

FREMONT, Calif. – June 8, 2011 – So you can browse comfortably – right from your lap – today Logitech unveiled the Logitech Touch Lapdesk N600, featuring a large touchpad that makes it easier than ever to point, scroll and swipe your way through the Web.

“We’ve seen people using everything from pillows to pets to shield their laps from the heat their laptops generate, ” said Denis Pavillard, vice president of product marketing for laptop accessories. “Our lapdesks are much more effective and, with the addition of a multi-touch touchpad, you’ll get the added capability to more easily move through your favorite content without attaching additional peripherals.”

The Logitech Touch Lapdesk N600 features a 5-inch, retractable touchpad with multi-touch navigation. You can move the pointer with one finger, scroll using two, and swipe through pages or pictures with three.

The multi-layer, heat-shielding design of the lapdesk protects you from laptop heat so you can browse in cool comfort, and the anti-slip surface helps keep your laptop in place. To get started, you just plug the tiny Logitech Unifying receiver into the USB port and start navigating. For your convenience, Logitech’s newest lapdesk offers up to six months of battery life.

Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Touch Lapdesk N600 is expected to be available in the U.S. and Europe beginning in June, for a suggested retail price of $69.99.

Wii U Console Features Controller with 6.2-inch Screen

Nintendo 3DS Continues its Evolution with Mario Kart, Super Mario and the Nintendo eShop as Nintendo Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda

PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)– At the E3 Expo, Nintendo introduced a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment: Wii U™, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen. Adding a second screen to the living room creates a multitude of new video game experiences while offering families a variety of options to customize their entertainment.

Previously, video games played on a home console have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. Furthermore, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Visitors to the E3 Expo will see firsthand the type of gaming experiences made possible by Wii U and the new controller such as:
• In single-player games:
o The new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV.
o The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.
• In multiplayer games:
o The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV. This will offer a wide variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

In addition to the 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller™ button scheme – two analog Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons – will enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players.

Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote™ or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further. Developers worldwide are already working on new games and experiences for the console.

“Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. “The experience enabled by Wii U and the new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers.”

Nintendo 3DS™, which lets users see 3D images without the need for special glasses, launched in the United States on March 27 and continues to evolve. Owners will find that their Nintendo 3DS experience is different every time they pick up the system, thanks to new content and updates delivered by Nintendo, by third parties and exchanged between users.

A new system update is now available for the Nintendo 3DS system. Users who connect to a wireless broadband Internet connection and install the system update will instantly gain access to the Nintendo eShop, which contains a variety of games and applications for download using a cash-based system.

Users can browse original 3D software, 3D Classics (select classic video games re-mastered in 3D), classic Game Boy™ and Game Boy Color games, and more than 350 games and applications currently offered for the Nintendo DSiWare™ service. Visitors can also see videos and screen shots for games, plus see how other players rank games.

The system update also provides Nintendo 3DS owners access to free items, including an Internet browser that can show 3D images on sites specifically designed to show 3D images, a download of a re-mastered 3D version of the NES™ classic Excitebike™ game (free until July 7) and Pokédex™ 3D, which lets users discover and view more than 150 Pokémon™ from the Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version games in visually engaging 3D.

Nintendo also announced a huge lineup of upcoming new and fan-favorite franchise games, many of which are playable on the E3 Expo show floor in booth 4922.
• Nintendo 3DS: Super Mario™, Luigi’s Mansion™ 2, Mario Kart™, Kid Icarus™: Uprising, The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D, Star Fox 64™ 3D, Animal Crossing™, Paper Mario™, Picture Lives!, The Rolling Western™.
• Wii: The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword, Kirby™ Wii, Wii Play™: Motion, Mystery Case Files™: The Malgrave Incident™, Mario Party™ 9, Rhythm Heaven™ and Fortune Street™.
• Nintendo DS™: Kirby™ Mass Attack, Professor Layton and the Last Specter™, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker™ 2 and Super Fossil Fighters™.
Nintendo kicked off its E3 Expo Presentation by announcing a number of initiatives to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. A re-mastered 3D version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches for Nintendo 3DS on June 19, while Wii owners will see the arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in the 2011 holiday season. Additionally, Nintendo announced a tour of orchestral concerts featuring music from the beloved franchise. Additional commemorative activities will be announced at a later date.

For the duration of the E3 Expo, Nintendo will provide fans with exclusive videos and Nintendo content on the Nintendo Network. People can visit http://e3.nintendo.com to watch developer interviews, get all the information about new games and see coverage coming directly from the show floor. The same exclusive content also will be streamed through the Nintendo® Channel to Wii owners who have a broadband Internet connection.

New Version of iOS Includes 200 New Features

New iOS 5 features include: Notification Center, iMessage, and Newsstand, a new way to purchase and organize your newspaper and magazine subscriptions.

PRESS RELEASE

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Apple® today previewed iOS 5, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and released a beta version to iOS Developer Program members. The iOS 5 beta release includes over 200 new features that will be available to iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® users this fall. New iOS 5 features include: Notification Center, an innovative way to easily view and manage notifications in one place without interruption; iMessage, a new messaging service that lets you easily send text messages, photos and videos between all iOS devices; and Newsstand, a new way to purchase and organize your newspaper and magazine subscriptions. With the new PC Free feature, iOS 5 users can activate and set up their iOS device right out of the box and get software updates over the air with no computer required.

“iOS 5 has some great new features, such as Notification Center, iMessage and Newsstand and we can’t wait to see what our developers do with its 1,500 new APIs,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Perhaps iOS 5’s paramount feature is that it’s built to seamlessly work with iCloud in the Post PC revolution that Apple is leading.”
With iOS 5 and iCloud®, you just enter your Apple ID and password and iCloud will seamlessly integrate with your apps to automatically and wirelessly keep all of your mail, contacts, calendars, photos, apps, books, music and more, up-to-date across all your devices without ever having to connect to a computer.

Notification Center provides iOS 5 users with an innovative way to easily access all notifications?text messages, missed calls, calendar alerts, app alerts and more, all in one place, from anywhere in iOS 5. When they arrive, notifications appear briefly at the top of the screen without interrupting what you’re doing. With one swipe you can see all your notifications, and a simple tap will take you right to its app for more detail. Notifications also appear on the lock screen, with the ability to be taken to the notifying app with just one swipe.

Newsstand is a beautiful, easy-to-organize bookshelf displaying the covers of all your newspaper and magazine subscriptions in one place. A new section of the App Store™ features just subscription titles, and allows users to quickly find the most popular newspapers and magazines in the world. If subscribed to, new issues appear in the Newsstand and are updated automatically in the background so you always have the latest issue and the most recent cover art.
Safari is the world’s most popular mobile browser, and with iOS 5 it’s now even better. New features include Safari® Reader, which gets all the clutter out of the way and sets the right font size on a web page, so you can easily scroll and read through a story; Reading List, so you can save articles to read later and they automatically show up on all your iOS devices; and Tabbed Browsing, which makes it easy to flip between multiple web pages on iPad.

iOS 5 includes built-in Twitter integration, so you can sign in once and then tweet directly from all your Twitter-enabled apps, including Photos, Camera, Safari, YouTube and Maps with a single tap. New APIs give third party developers the ability to take advantage of the single sign-on capability for their own iOS 5 apps.
iMessage in iOS 5 brings the functionality of iPhone messaging to all of your iOS devices?iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Built right into the Messages app, iMessage allows you to easily send text messages, photos, videos or contact information to a person or a group on other iOS 5 devices over Wi-Fi or 3G. iMessages are automatically pushed to all your iOS 5 devices, making it easy to maintain one conversation across your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. iMessage also features delivery and read receipts, typing indication and secure end-to-end encryption.

The new Reminders app helps you manage your tasks; create and group related tasks together; and set time or location-based reminder alerts, priorities and due dates, so you can be reminded of a task as its deadline approaches, or when you arrive or depart a given location. Reminders can also be viewed in iCal® and Outlook and are updated automatically.

New features in the Camera and Photos apps give you instant access to the camera right from the lock screen, and you can use the volume-up button to quickly snap a photo. Optional grid lines help line up your shot and a simple tap locks focus and exposure on one subject. The new Photos app lets you crop, rotate, enhance and remove red-eye, and organize your photos into albums right on your device to share them on the go.
With the new PC Free feature, iOS 5 users can activate and set up their iOS device right out of the box with no computer required, and iOS software updates are delivered over the air and installed with just a tap. Wi-Fi Sync in iOS 5 transfers and backs up your content securely over SSL and wirelessly syncs purchased content from your device to your iTunes® library.

Additional new features in iOS 5 include:
• Game Center, now with the ability to add photos to your profile, purchase new games from within the Game Center app and easier ways to find friends and new games;
• Mail enhancements which include the ability to compose messages using draggable addresses, and a new formatting bar with bold, italics, underline and indention controls;
• AirPlay® Mirroring to wirelessly display everything you do on your iPad 2 right on your HDTV through Apple TV®; and
• a system-wide split keyboard to make it even easier to type on your iPad.

Availability
The iOS 5 beta software and SDK are available immediately for iOS Developer Program members at developer.apple.com. iOS 5 will be available as a free software update for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad, iPod touch (fourth generation) and iPod touch (third generation) this fall. Some features may not be available on all products.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

PERFORMANCE DESIGNED PRODUCTS (PDP) ANNOUNCES E3 2011 PRODUCT LINEUP

New hardware on display includes precision controllers for fighting game fans, wireless Afterglow controllers and headsets and licensed products.

LOS ANGELES, CA ­ JUNE 3, 2011 ­ Performance Designed Products LLC (³PDP²), a worldwide leader in the video game accessory market, announced its line-up of new video game controllers and accessories being shown during the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. New hardware on display includes precision controllers for fighting game fans, wireless Afterglow controllers and headsets and licensed products featuring Cars 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Nerf, Energizer and Transformers 3.

³Our goal is to create high quality controllers and accessories that suit the needs of everyone,² Tom Roberts, chief technical officer of Performance Designed Products. ³From competitive fighting gamers to young players just starting out, we¹ve created products to reach from hard core to casual audiences and back.²

PDP will be showing the following items during this year¹s E3:

• New versions of the highly-rated Mortal Kombat Klassic Fightstick for
both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, including a re-skin that reflects the color scheme of the original Mortal Kombat arcade game cabinet. GameStop will exclusively be offering a limited run of Mortal Kombat Klassic Fight Sticks bundled with the Mortal Kombat Arcade Kompilation, a digital release containing Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.
• The Versus Fight Pad, the high quality pad designed for six button
fighting games, available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and now the Nintendo Wii and are officially licensed for all three systems.
• The first rechargeable, wireless light-up Afterglow controller for the PlayStation 3
• The Afterglow Communicator, coming for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and Wii Chat headset enhance online multiplayer chatting experiences.
• Keep Earth from going dark with the limited Collector¹s Edition
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Wireless Controller and Bluetooth Headset for PlayStation 3. Designed after the loveable and courageous Bumblebee, this wireless controller and Bluetooth headset (which can be stored in the controller) feature authentic Transformers details, light-up logo and official artwork.
• My First Remote, a micro-sized, kid-friendly remote designed for Wii
players with smaller hands that also features interchangeable Disney artwork.
• The Wii Blaster, a unique lightgun-style controller for the Wii that comes with a download coupon for the WiiWare shoot-Œem-up game, Big Town Shootout.
• New licensed controllers and accessories featuring Transformers 3, Nightmare Before Christmas, Cars 2, Nerf and Energizer.
• Microsoft Kinect mounting solutions and extension cords and PlayStation Move accessories to help keep gamer¹s living spaces organized.