This has got to be one the most unique Smartphone accessories we’ve come across yet. Introducing the XAPPR pistol, a $30 peripheral that fits most Android and iOS devices. You’re probably wondering how it works. First you mount your phone to its stand, then the device connects to your phone with the trigger sending its signals via the headphone port. Currently, there are only a few apps that support the device, most of which require the use of augmented reality. It works well with iOS titles like Spray’Em, or AR Wars and AR Invaders. There’s also an Android app, ATK, currently in open beta that supports it. If you’re interested in picking one up, you can currently pre-order one from the official website via Paypal, but it won’t be ready to ship ’til June.

I love the concept of tablet gaming, I really do, but like many of you, I find the touch controls absolutely maddening at times. This is especially true for any game or app that requires the use of a directional pad. Thankfully, the chaps at Ten One Design could read my mind. Introducing the Fling Joystick and Fling mini — a simple analog nub that sticks to your tablet, or smartphone and holds in place via small translucent suction cups.

The clear plastic design prevents the nubs from being to obstructive, while the nubs themselves deliver the precision one would demand from a traditional control surface. As pictured, the nubs fit perfectly on iOS devices such as the iPhone or iPad, but something tells me the people who stand to benefit the most from these are running emulators on their Android devices. I have yet to run into an emulator that doesn’t rely heavily on a virtual D-pad.

A single Fling Joystick nub for full-sized tablets will run you $19.95, and is available in two other colors in addition to the translucent original; two packs are available $29.95. The Fling mini is only available as a dual pack but retails for just $24.95. If you need help figuring out which size would best fit your device, their online store has a widget at the bottom to better assist.

This is kind of cool news for those of you like me who can’t stand heavy handhelds. Nintendo’s Masahiro Sakurai recently revealed that the upcoming 3DS title Kid Icarus Uprising will come packed with a special stand to help keep the system steady while you play. Truth is, I love the concept behind Nintendo’s 3DS, even if I don’t really own too many games for it, but unfortunately, the system is a bit hefty, especially when I want to play for any extended period of time. Although I wasn’t looking forward to Kid Icarus Uprising so much, having played a demo at last year’s San Diego Comic Con International, this little addition might just change my mind. Keeping the system balanced could potentially improve the gameplay, and I’m sure I’ll be making use of the stand for future titles.

When I think about it, it’s kind of sad that the system would even need a stand. I recently held a PlayStation Vita, which comparatively speaking, felt like air in my hands. It might also explain why I’ll often opt for my iPhone rather than booting up my 3DS. I’m sure Nintendo must have realized it was a bit heavy, but then again, they’ve been doing so well that I’m sure it didn’t bother them as much as it should have. Hopefully, it’s something they’ll take into account when they release the Wii U later this year.

Recently, over 60,000 free ebooks were removed from the Nook’s digital bookstore, and fewer titles are appearing every day. Why, might you ask? It’s not Barnes & Noble’s fault, but Amazon could have something to do with it. It should come as no surprise, especially considering their history of aggressive marketing and bully-boy tactics, but Amazon recently negotiated a deal with authors, offering to instantly add their novels to the Kindle’s lending library in exchange for their exclusivity.

Naturally, that exclusivity effects more than just the Nook. Other vendors will undoubtedly find themselves lacking new titles, making the Kindle the premiere ebook reader. Crafty users will still find ways to obtain their books, but for those of us who prefer the convenience of built-in digital bookstores, we might be out of luck.

[via pixelofink]

Introducing Retrode, a USB adapter for 16-bit retrogaming. I’m not sure if there’s a simple term for what Retrode does, but I certainly dig its purpose, so I’ll try to describe it. The adapter delivers an authentic retrogaming experience by allowing you to use your own cartridges and controllers with the emulators you download. With ports for both the SNES and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive , Retrode gives you driverless emulation, complete with data access and the ability to save to sram, without the need to obtain your roms via the net. Of course, you can still use the controllers with one you’ve downloaded, but its nice to know you’ll have options.

The unit’s also incredibly portable, and while it still requires a device capable of running an emulator, its size makes it perfect for travel. Retrode is set for release by the end of the month, and will be available via Stone Age Gamer for ~$85 plus shipping.

There was a time when I would look at portable gaming with disdain. The products, ranging from Tiger handhelds, to even Nintendo’s GameBoy, always struck me as poorly developed, delivering casual experiences just to kill time. A lot has changed since then and, in recent years, I’ve grown new-found respect for the medium. These days, developers have found ways to offer the deep, immersive experiences that were once exclusive to the consoles and PCs of old. Even some of those classic titles I once held in such high regard have made their way to our smartphones. But what about the ones that haven’t? There’s options.

Introducing the a320 Pocket Retro Game Emulator. With a body resembling that of a GameBoy Micro, this little handheld comes packed with 4GBs of internal storage, expandable via mini-SD slot., and is capable of emulating a number of classic consoles such as the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Neo-Geo. It doesn’t come preloaded with any of the titles, and while emulation is legally dubious at best, its $100 price tag makes it an attractive option for those who are less-scrupulous, and looking for an all-in-one solution. ThinkGeek is currently offering it for $70, which is quite a steal — no pun intended.

For those of you who’d rather keep it as legit as possible, there’s an alternative. The SupaBoy offers gamers a chance to take their original SNES carts on the road. For $80, the unit comes with a 3.5 LCD screen, AV-out, and a 2.5 hour rechargeable battery. It also features built-in controls, but offers two separate controller ports for those who’d rather use an actual SNES controller. It’s not an official Nintendo product, but at least it’s fully compatible with those original SNES cartridges and controllers.

Sega developed a portable Genesis known as the Sega Nomad back in the mid-90s, but they can be hard come by, and even then, they’re bulky and consume batteries like Tic-Tacs. As legal alternative, some Genesis/Mega Drive hits are currently available for the PSP, and various iOS devices. It’s also possible to jailbreak and emulate the games with the PSP  or Android and iOS devices, but again, it’s not exactly legal and I would never encourage anyone to do so.

In the end, I know the decision will really come down to a matter of convenience, and the options are on the table.

Those of you planning on purchasing Samsung’s latest line of Galaxy products can stop holding your breath. Last weekend, Apple lost a motion for a preliminary injunction aimed to halt the sale of Galaxy smartphones and tablets in the United States. Apple, who’ve accused Samsung of blatantly ripping off their own line of iDevices, has yet to make a statement about the ruling. Samsung, on the other hand, quickly issued a statement backing the court’s decision, stating “(The ruling) confirms our long-held view that Apple’s arguments lack merit.”

This marks Samsung’s second victory in recent weeks having just won an appeal lifting the temporary ban on the sale of Galaxy tablets in Australia, but unfortunately it won’t end there. The entire case will still be heard next year. Meanwhile both companies will continue to battle it out having filed numerous disputes in countries like South Korea, Germany and Japan. Having recently handled a Galaxy tablet myself, I can understand where Apple’s coming from. The products are aesthetically similar in terms of look and feel, so there might be a kernel of truth to the claims of patent infringement, however it would be difficult to prove in court, and ultimately, I’m in favor of competition.

I’m sure it would be nice to dominate the tablet and smartphone market, but having to resort to a court of law in order to do it just seems wrong. I have to wonder if this is what Steve would have wanted.

So what did fanboys do to collect their favorite shows before the advent of videotape? Believe it or not collecting actual films was a passion of a select few fans back in the day — the hardcore fans would actually purchase 16mm prints, however you could buy on the market a wide range of 8mm film prints which featured clips from many of the popular TV shows of the day. By the 70s this faded, however in 1978 this very cute Pocket Flix viewer from Ideal toys shows the very last gasp of that era. This toy was aimed at kids and one could buy a variety of “easy to snap-in movie cassettes” to recapture a few precious seconds of a show like Star Trek or the Hardy Boys:

The Hardy Boys cassette:

A Laurel and Hardy cassette:

Found via John Tenuto.

I’m sure at some point you’ve all thought about having your very own robot — I know I have. The closest I ever came was helping a friend build a remote-controlled “battlebot,” only to see it laid to waste by some other kid’s metal monstrosity. It’s been well over a decade since then, and technology has certainly progressed. Designers Peter Seid and Phu Nguyen sought to take advantage of these advancements by developing a unique interface that transforms our everyday smartphones into robots capable of learning, growing, and expanding their functionality through a series of apps. They call it Romo, the smartphone robot.

While it certainly isn’t as adorable as Aibo, the robotic dog, Romo aims to deliver far more functionality at only a fraction of the cost — $78, as opposed to the Aibo’s $2000 list price. They’ve already held a Kickstarter, shattering their target goal by over $82,000.   You can download the iPhone app right away, but I believe they’ve sold out of their initial run via Kickstarter. If you’d like to know how to order one in the future, check out their official blog for updates.

If you’re like me, and I imagine many of you are, you’ve loaded your smartphone with games. It’s a bit ironic, really. We spend hundreds of dollars on dedicated gaming handhelds and for whatever reason, some of us find our phones more appealing. There was a time when I might have scoffed at the notion that my phone would replace my DSi or PSP, but that’s simply no longer the case. While I can still count on a deep, involved, experience with one of those $30 to $40 titles, more often than not, I’ll pick up my phone for a quick game of whatever cheap thrill the app store has to offer. With hundreds of apps available for almost too reasonable price, determining which system gets my attention for the evening can be an easy decision. So, why not try to improve that experience? That’s where the iControlpad comes in.

Despite its not-so-original name, this nifty little control pad can connect with most of our favorite smartphones via Bluetooth in order to provide us that handheld gaming experience we’ve come to know and love. Not only does the pad work with almost any device that features Bluetooth connectivity, its universal holder fits most popular models such as iPhone 4, Samsung’s Galaxy 2S, the Blackberry Torch and more –  a full list is available on the site. While I imagine the compatibility might be greater for any Android-based device, its fully compatible with any iOS app featuring iCade emulation or dual nubs support. It’s also fully compatible with many of the emulators currently available for jailbroken devices.

The iControlpad currently retails for $69.99 via their official website, but the company is based out of England. If you’d rather order from a domestic storefront, ThinkGeek is also carrying the product for $74.99.

Many of us know about the 1988 video by Apple called Knowledge Navigator — well here’s the follow up video! This nice snapshot of history includes interviews clips from Alvin Toffler, Ray Bradbury, Steve Wozniak and Alan Kay (who really envisioned the iPad in the 60s):

It’s nice to science fiction great Ray Bradbury get some speaking time — when was the last time a computer company dared to do that?

This reminds me so much of the iPad 2 down to the video camera:

And look we’re surfing on the web on an iMac:

The slight irony of this video is that while they were showing off what the web would look like in the future, in just a few years in 1991 the first web server would be up and running on a NeXT computer:

And for reference here’s the original video:

My thanks to Michael Markman!

This fanboy would like to thank Steve Jobs one last time for inspiring him…

Yelp certainly has its problems, and anyone who has taken the time to wade through the sea of nonsensical reviews would agree, but even I have to admit that its been useful on occasion. Unfortunately, upset customers tend to be the most vocal, and it’s impossible for an establishment to please everyone. That being the case, the service often finds itself plagued by it own users — people with a false sense of entitlement and way too much time on their hands. Don’t believe me? Just check out this hilarious Tumblr account that chronicles some of the worst Yelp reviews ever written. Normally, I would say that I’ve never seen so many ridiculous reviews in one place before, but that’s not true — I’ve also browsed Apple’s app store.

It’s just a shame that a system designed to help us is so inherently flawed, but I guess that’s the chance we take when you let anyone review anything they want. I’ve also heard stories of restaurant managers going out of their way to contact users who leave harsh reviews in an effort to better their experience and that’s really great, but as that blog above clearly demonstrates, not ever review is constructive. I really hope Yelp finds a way to police itself because I know plenty of businesses suffer as a result of those frivolous posts. After all, how hard can it be to offer something constructive.

Yuruppy is a word that may sound strange, but in the context of a toy, perhaps not so strange. If you know what Tamagochi then learning about another new word is not problem. Yuruppy is a virtual pet toy for the people who are allergic to real animals, but want to experience what it is like of taking care of a feline or furry companion. Unlike Tamagochi though, your Yuruppy friend won’t die, when you are away from it for hours.

This is a touch screen gadget that has the owner playing with their virtual pet in a variety of 14 mini-games, that facilitate its eating, entertainment and hygiene levels. Sounds similar to Nintendogs from Nintendo? This is a similar pet caring game. If you happen to find this game cute, then you can definitely play with your friends. On all four sides of the Yuruppy unit there are magnetic nodes that has an option of connecting with other Yuruppy gadgets. There is an option for a kitty, puppy or chick. So you can stack up to 21 of these toys together and have a party. Though this is a Japanese game, this is a game that can be purchased via Amazon.

Over the course of the next few days, Facebook plans to roll out a list of improvements and changes the service designed to increase our privacy. It’s likely the move was made specifically to combat the support garnered by Google+ and its platform of selective sharing. Following their example, Facebook will now make it even easier for users to determine who they want to see their posts, photos, and more without having to wade through their user settings to do so. Instead the options will appear next our their posts, which should cut down on the hassle. On top of that, it looks as though users will now be notified before they’re tagged in a photo by another user, giving them the opportunity to opt out or approve tags before they’re added to your profile. Amazing, right? Unfortunately, many users have already migrated to Google+ and I’ve yet to see anyone bother to look back, which begs the question — are these changes too little, too late? I know many of you keep up with our site through Facebook, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, several outlets he’s written for include the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator, and the collectible toy culture site Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

The Great Garloo was first manufactured by the Marx toy company in 1961 — this very creepy looking two foot tall battery powered humanoid lizard robot could go forward or backward and turn his arms. And for extra kitsch we wears a “Garloo” medallion and cute leopard print loin cloth. How to Be a Retronaut discovered this great commercial from 1963 for the little green guy:

And here’s a recent video of Garloo in action:

Garloo photo found via robotnut.com.

he ultimate dream for many an illustrator is to turn their iPad into a Wacom tablet. Well here’s a hack which shows you how to do that: This Japanese video below shows a cool hack to turn a pen into a stylus for an iPad, iPhone,iPod touch.

Found via 神楽坂らせん.

I had always assumed the most intense fanboys in the realm of tech were the Apple fanboys who would camp out on line to get the latest Steve Jobs goodie — well I was wrong! Upon playing with Google+ I’ve come across a growing legion of Android fanboys who are obsessed with the Android mascot. And shown here is the proof of this devotion — I present the Droid_Robot font created by Natsumi Kawashima.

Found via hitmit and Hitoshi Mitani.

I love my iPhone, but I really wish it had a notch for a phone charm. I suppose a charm might not be the manliest thing, but it always helped me keep track of it whenever I’d have to rummage through my pockets. These days, I go for the next best thing, swapping out cases. I’m not sure how many different iPhone cases I own at this point, but sometimes I just come across one that I absolutely must have, like this sweet little case from the guys at Lootiful. The iPWN! 4 case is a slick little nod to the original GameBoy. It’s made from a thin but durable polycarbonate material that weighs less than an ounce, and the best part? Easy button access. That has to be my number one gripe about any case for the iPhone 4 and they’ve got it covered.

They produced a limited edition case with an Apple logo on the back (pictured above) rather than just a blank screen, but you probably won’t come across one for sale — not a huge deal, if you ask me. Instead you’ll have to settle for the standard edition (pictured below). Oddly enough, they claim the case fits AT&T models perfectly, but for whatever reason, they’re not recommending using it with a Verizon model. Can’t imagine why, though I’ve never compared the two.  Still, if you’re interested, you can preorder the case for $17.99 and it should ship by August 20th. They’re also working on a case for the iPad 2, but they haven’t announced any other details at this time.

This wonderful video below gives an overview of the effort to rebuild a fully working version of the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator (EDSAC). EDSAC was an early British computer from 1949 which was one of the first machines which was able to store software. The computer did this with little more than vacuum tubes, punched tape and a teleprinter:

And this related video gives some background on the life of Sir Maurice Wilkes who built EDSAC:

It’s funny I somehow assumed that the rock stars who had conquered Twitter would move onto Google+ and do the same exact thing — but that simply isn’t the case. From my small time playing with this new service I’ve noticed a few folks who are really going the extra mile to use the site to say something interesting and to really make their mark. This isn’t by any means a scientific or comprehensive list, but here are some of the more interesting folks I’ve come across on Google+ so far:

Geeky Bloggers and Websites

Peter Sciretta
Blogger at SlashFilm.com

Scott Beale
Blogger at Laughing Squid

Comic Books and Illustration

Scott McCloud
Comics Artist

Danny Hellman
Illustrator and Cartoonist

Leif Peng
Illustrator and Cartoonist

Matthew Inman
The Oatmeal

Anime

Deb Aoki
Manga Journalist

W. Kaijyu
Anime Blogger

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber
Manga Editor

Tech

Kara Swisher
Tech Jouranlist

Jason Calacanis
ThisWeekIn.com

Om Malik
Tech Journalist

Loren Feldman
Tech Humorist and Videographer

Chris Brogan
Social Media Marketing

Interesting People and Digital Curators

Lorraine Hopping Egan
Game Designer

Reagan H
Digital Curator whos posts interesting pictures

Kenichi Ishibashi
Digital Curator who posts interesting pictures

こいたろう
Digital Curator who posts interesting pictures

Homebaby Wen Orz
Digital Curator who posts interesting pictures

And of course here is where you can find me:

Michael Pinto
Publisher Fanboy.com

The good news is that the space shuttle Atlantis takeoff went well, but the bad new is that this is the last flight: As of this moment the only nations that have an active manned space program are Russia and China. It’s great that America has a good relations with Russia so we can bum a ride — but frankly we should be leading the way in space exploration. Making matters worse the successor to the Hubble telescope was canceled last night. We may not have realized it just yet, but we have entered a dark age of space exploration in the United States, and this is a very bad thing.

As an old time BBS user I tend to be cynical about every new site that comes along, but not only did Google+ impress me — but it passed the ultimate test: It just ate most of my weekend. On the surface the program seems like a slightly updated version of Facebook, but as you begin to explore and really live with the program you start to realize that it’s so much more than that.

The one thing i always hated about Facebook is that while it made you use your real identity, it forced you to share your entire world with everyone that you know. So something that might be appropriate for your personal friends might not be something you want to share with say co-workers or family members. In fact you might not even want those two groups to meet each other. Google+ solves that by allowing you to create circles — so for example my anime pals don’t need to meet my tech buddies (although I can overlapping members in both groups if I want).

My prediction is that this won’t be the end of Facebook — but it is the beginning of Facebook turning turning into AOL. Like MySpace before it the cool kids will move away from Facebook — in fact some people already feel that the cool kids have left Facebook. And what’s interesting is that the people I see playing with Google+ are most of the early adopters from the tech scene that made Twitter take root in the early days of of those SXSW festivals before Ashton Kutcher and CNN took over the place.

In fact I think if Google+ is an immediate threat to anybody it is Twitter. Unlike Facebook Twitter has been slow to innovate and can still produce a fail whale every now and then: What’s amazing to me about Google+ is that it’s in closed beta and felt 1000% more stable and responsive than Twitter. And then added to that Google+ is a great canvas to share photos and the like with your friends — in fact you can just drag and drop images onto the browser. Google+ starts to almost feel like an app while everybody else feels like your living in an static html page.

In fact once you start using Google+ Twitter feels like a mess because your stream of friends feels like they lack a context. Twitter added lists after a while, but they were kind of late to the game and that addition feels like a hack — especially when you can add someone to a list but not follow them. By starting with a blank canvas Google+ really gives your many social circles context. And as social media evolves context is everything.

I have to admit that I was very cynical about Google+ until I tried it. Google has had such a bad track record with social media be it Orkut or Buzz, but it looks like this time that the third try was the charm. And what kills me is that I’ve been looking a beta, if Google is smart (and they’re filled withs mart people) we’ll see features roll out over the next few months. In fact as they start to integrate their existing offerings into Google+ like Gmail their platform will be unstoppable.

I have to admit, there’s nothing quite like watching Apple fail. In recent years, the company has worked to establish an infallible aura surrounding creative platforms like music and film production. This has led their users to believe the notion that Apple could do no wrong. Rightfully so, Apple became Hollywood’s industry standard. When the company released the latest version of their video production software Final Cut Pro X, studios flocked to install the new software, only to find that Apple had changed almost everything, and had completely removed many of the advanced features in a vain attempt to simplify the work-flow. It wasn’t long before someone — in this case, Conan O’Brien’s staff — decided to poke fun at Apple’s shiny new crippleware. The worst part? It’s all true.

Tim is a pro-blogger and freelance writer out of San Diego, California. In addition to Fanboy.com, several outlets he’s written for include the Japanese culture and entertainment blog, Japanator, and the collectible toy culture site Tomopop. For more information, follow him on twitter, or check out TimSheehy.com.

This video paints a very pessimistic picture of how the flood of information we are creating today could be lost over time. As someone who has been playing with computers since the Reagan era seeing the images of floppy disks reminded me that indeed I still own a few that have data for computers like the C-64 and Apple II that have long since vanished — never mind zip disks from just a few years ago. We’re only been into this data revolution for a few short years, but I’ve already had several bad experiences which make me wonder about the long term security of the medium we’re crafting.