Sony has taken a few of its developers aside and doled out a few new morsels of info about its upcoming PlayStation 3 motion controller. Leaving the Sixaxis as the black sheep of the family, the wand supports force feedback from the get-go, and up to four of the devices can be tracked at one time. The technology can work in conjunction with PlayStation Eye's face / head tracking and built-in mic, but naturally that's gonna tax the Cell processor more. The company's reportedly considering some joint use of the motion remote and standard controller, with the example given of holding the wand as sword and DualShock 3 as shield. We're not sure if that'll somehow count additionally toward the max wand limit -- probably not, at the expense of not using the more accurate color-changing ball tracker -- but it's definitely more cost efficient for the consumer than having to pick up another remote. Tentatively launch window is still Spring 2010, which as it turns out is infinitely more than what we know about Natal's release date at this point.

[Via Joystiq]

To think, we've been waiting on the edge of our seats since January to get our hands on Ecamm's BT-1 wireless, Bluetooth-enabled webcam for OS X. Sure, 640 x 480 / 15fps H.264 video quality is comparable to what our MacBooks get anyway, but hey, at least you can be a little more artsy on your Skype calls without losing that prime display viewing angle. All that waiting doesn't matter now, anyway, since it's finally shipping out. Price is $150 and it includes a mini-tripod and USB charger cable -- can't seem to get rid of wires entirely just yet. As for Windows support, it's still not there officially, but we've no doubt some intrepid young coder with an afternoon to spare will fix that.

We don't know exactly how, but Belkin's claiming its new Gigabit Powerline HD Starter Kit adapters can outpace the current 200Mbps standard speed of most other powerline devices (not all of them, mind you) by five fold. Of course, the caveat here is that the touted 1000Mbps is under ideal settings, and there's no telling what other network traffic, interference, or problematic wiring could lower that figure -- still, assuming all conditions are sound, we're talking some hefty numbers for an HD streaming network run via your home's electrical system. It's available now in North America at a penny under $150 for a pair of adapters, with a European release in early August.

It's been a while since we've heard a peep about Adobe's Flash 10 for smartphone initiative, but according to a slide from its Q2 Fiscal Year 2009 earnings presentation, the platform's on track for a beta release this October at the company's MAX conference. Prime mobile OS candidates for the beta include those from Adobe's Open Screen Project, which at last count included Nokia, Palm, Google, and Microsoft -- and unless there's been some behind closed doors meetings, the two glaring omissions on that list are still gonna be bugging you come this Halloween.

We've seriously no idea why Apple didn't just ship all of the June 2009 MacBook Pro units with the SATA 3Gbps specification enabled, but at least it caved to the chorus of complaints and enabled it today via a firmware update. MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.7, as it's called in Software Update, weighs in at just 3.35MB and requires OS X 10.5.7 to be installed. According to Apple, the update "addresses an issue reported by a small number of customers using drives based on the SATA 3Gbps specification with the June 2009 MacBook Pro." Of course, it goes on to say that it still doesn't support the use of drives that can take advantage of such speeds, but at least you have the option now of taking matters into your own hands and upgrading to a non-hamstrung SSD should you choose.

[Via MacRumors]

We got a quick look Disney's little Netpal Eee PC rebadge, and found our not-too-high expectations slightly exceeded by the fairly slick skin Disney has slapped on top of XP. The Netpal platform is really Disney's primary contribution here, since the computer underneath is vanilla Eee PC other than the fairly stylish "boy" and "girl" skinning job. The shell, however, is a locked down environment that allows parents to white list web sites and email addresses for kids to access, along with a list of allowable apps -- kids aren't restricted to just Disney's set of experiences, little Bobby can master PowerPoint in between play dates if his parents don't mind. Standard netbook sluggishness is of course a drawback, but the extensive parental controls, kid-friendly interface and $350 retail price are all good omens for rising above the general shoddiness and usual misnomer of "kid tech." Video is after the break.

Recently, Engadget editors Thomas Ricker and Chris Ziegler received Nokia N97s just days apart from one another. Already established pen pals, the two immediately began to correspond across the Atlantic via carrier pigeon, discussing their very different experiences using Nokia's most powerful smartphone to date. This is a recounting of those letters.

Thomas,

I hope this letter finds you well. I understand that you've received an N97 from Nokia Nederlands recently and was wondering what you thought of it? As luck would have it, I've happened across a unit myself -- the US was the first country to get them, interestingly, which is really big deal for a company accustomed to delivering its best hardware early and often to Europe. I've been flogging it for a few days now, just enough time to form some opinions.

It's been a long, messy road, but now that TiVo's beaten a victory out of EchoStar in that seemingly-endless DVR patent lawsuit it sounds like the company is trying to exert some muscle -- it's already in talks to bring its service to Time Warner Cable, and sources have told Bloomberg the ultimate plan is to eventually collect royalties from every pay-TV provider in the US. That might sound bullying and even a little trollish, but keep in mind these patents have withstood pretty much every legal challenge EchoStar could throw at them, so TiVo's operating from a position of some certainty here -- especially since it's got license agreements with huge players like Comcast and DirecTV to use as leverage in negotiations as well. Of course, none of this solves any of TiVo's actual problems with its products, and the company's topsy-turvy balance sheet has some analysts thinking its ripe for a buyout by one of the bigs, so things could change dramatically at any minute, but for right now it sounds like your chances of getting the TiVo interface on your cable or satellite company DVR just went up, and that's almost certainly a good thing.

Looking to make the wild and not-entirely-wondrous world of printers exciting for the first time in decades, HP has just unveiled the "world's first web-connected printer." If you're wondering how it plans on accomplishing such an impossible mission, let us just say this: the Photosmart Premium is going the way of the widget. Up on the 4.33-inch front panel is Touchsmart Web, a touchscreen interface with several bundled, online apps to accommodate usual paper-friendly tasks such as printing Google maps, tickets from Fandango, coupons, recipes, Sudoku, etc. There's even a full-on HD Apps Studio just in case downloading new apps on one's printer really becomes the new hotness. The API's being made open for the entire realm of developers, but we have to wonder what kind of interest we'll see here. Pricing is set for $399, and if you're thinking "why not just buy a cheap netbook and plug it into my current model" we hear ya, but we get the impression this is aimed squarely at another crowd. Lots more details are just past the break.

Update: We just had a chance to try the printer / Touchsmart for ourselves. First off, surprise, the screen is capacitive touch, and it works well -- but only one finger at a time. We asked a rep about multitouch and were told that while technically feasible, it's not gonna be supported at this time. The widgets are created with a combination of HTML5 and Java, and much to our surprise, video streaming has been implemented. The Monsters vs. Aliens trailer we saw was decent resolution, but really, it's not a place where we need pristine quality. More screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: HP unveils Photosmart Premium with Touchsmart Web hands-on

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This whole global economic crisis, and its resulting massive loss of jobs got us thinking. We here at Engadget didn't want to stand helplessly by, announcing every new round of misery without giving anything back -- so we decided to take the opportunity to spread a little positivity. We'll be handing out a new gadget every day (except for weekends) to lucky readers until we run out of stuff / companies stop sending things. Today we've got an insane (that's right: insane) grab bag of random stuff culled from the depths of Editor-in-Chief Joshua Topolsky's lair. That's right. We could detail the awesomeness that's inside the bag, but where would the fun in that be? Read the rules below (no skimming -- we're omniscient and can tell when you've skimmed) and get commenting! Check after the break for some photos of the prize!


The rules:

• Leave a comment below. Any comment will do, but if you want to share your proposal for "fixing" the world economy, that'd be sweet too.
  
• You may only enter this specific giveaway once. If you enter this giveaway more than once you'll be automatically disqualified, etc. (Yes, we have robots that thoroughly check to ensure fairness.)
• If you enter more than once, only activate one comment. This is pretty self explanatory. Just be careful and you'll be fine.
  
• Contest is open to anyone in the 50 States, 18 or older! Sorry, we don't make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so be mad at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
  
• Winner will be chosen randomly. The winner will receive an insane grab bag of random stuff.
  
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of the end of the contest. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen.
• Entries can be submitted until Monday, June 22nd, 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
• Full rules can be found here.

Kodachroooome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama don't take my Kodachrome away

Kodak estimates supplies of existing stock will run out sometime in early fall. Don't forget to hum that cool acoustic guitar riff in between the verses. You're welcome.

Sony's finally throwing US consumers a bone by offering its VAIO P with a faster "1.6GHz Atom" processor we presume to be the Z530. Model VGN-P698E also adds a 128GB SSD to the mix along with a Verizon WWAN module and GPS radio. Problem is, the US Version doesn't have an XP option like the VAIO P in Japan let alone the 1.86GHz Atom Z540 option. That means you'll be stuck watching Vista Home Premium overwhelm that Atom processor and integrated GMA500 graphics when Windows 7 and those new Tegra-based smartbooks (running CE or Android) arrive in October. Come on, don't you want a glorified $1,500 netbook?

We can't fault 'em for trying, but at the end of the day Kodak's EasyShare S730 is just another vanilla digital photo frame. Oh sure, it sports an updated Quick Touch border, a collage mode for displaying several shots at once, video and music support, a rechargeable battery for cord-free operation and 1GB of memory, but there's no WiFi, OLED or pixie dust to speak of. We will say, however, that the included Picture Finder feature -- which enables users to select a photo that pops up in order to find more from the same era -- is fairly nifty, but it's not spectacular enough in and of itself to justify the $139 price tag. If you disagree, you can pick one up in the US and Canada this September, while Europeans can snag one this month for €149.