National Post

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Microsoft unveils the Xbox One, the ‘ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system’
After months of speculation and rumour, Microsoft Corp. finally unveiled its next-generation video game console, the Xbox One, at a glitzy media event at the company’s headquarters on Tuesday.

Microsoft is positioning its new video game console as an all in one solution that will give users access to video games, over the top video services like Netflix and live television through one interface.

For Microsoft, the Xbox One represents not only the company’s challenger to Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s Wii U and Sony Corp.’s forthcoming PlayStation 4 video console, but also the software giant’s best hope at reshaping the face of television entertainment and placing its technology at the centre of millions of living rooms.

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Wearable robots that can help paralyzed people walk will be a ‘godsend’When Michael Gore stands, it’s a triumph of science and engineering. Eleven years ago, Gore was paralyzed from the waist down in a workplace accident, yet he rises from his wheelchair to his full 6-foot-2 and walks across the room with help from a lightweight wearable robot.

The technology has many nicknames. Besides “wearable robot,” the inventions also are called “electronic legs” or “powered exoskeletons.” This version, called Indego, is among several competing products being used and tested in U.S. rehab hospitals that hold promise not only for people such as Gore with spinal injuries, but also those recovering from strokes or afflicted with multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

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Tiny winged robots — This photograph provided May 6, 2013 courtesy of Harvard University  shows miniature winged robots inspired by flies that could one day help pollinate crops or aid the search for survivors at collapse sites — once they get off the leash, that is.  The prototypes by researchers at Harvard University weigh 80 milligrams and have managed short controlled flights by flapping their mechanical wings while still tethered to a tiny power cable, the journal Science said this week.   The coin-sized robots sport two thin wings that flap 120 times per second.   Flight tests have shown they can make basic maneuvers, including hovering in place for about 20 seconds before crashing.    (AFP PHOTO/Courtesy of  Harvard University/Kevin Ma and Pakpong Chirarattananon/Getty Images)

Graphic: Rise of the mobile phone
Forty years ago this week, reporters watched amazed as Motorola electrical engineer Martin Cooper made the first public mobile phone call — to his competitor at Bell Labs, no less, reports Kristopher Morrison. It took 10 years before Motorola went from demo in New York to producing the first model for retail. Since then the technology has surged and this week Mr. Cooper said he believes the best is yet to come. “Technology has to be invisible. Transparent. Just simple. A modern cellphone in general has an instruction book that’s bigger and heavier than the cellphone. That’s not right,” Mr. Cooper told CBS.

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Review: Bientôt l’été encourages players to rethink video games as art
Are video games art? At this point, it’s a debate which has raged for years. But most gamers would likely agree that yes, video games are indeed an artistic medium. Of course, just like other artistic mediums — music, film, etc. — there are those who place a greater value in the artistic value of independent games compared to big budget commercial games produced by multinational publishers.

In the eyes of this reviewer, video games can only be defined as art when the experiential nature of the game — that is to say the interactivity — becomes an essential part of the experience. That may be a stringent category, but it’s the single element that makes video games unique in how they deliver narrative, aesthetic, and intent when compared to other media. (Tale of Tales)

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BUBBA’S HOVER: Yes, the man now has a hovercraft. For the golf course. A hovercraft golf cart. This is a real thing and not an April Fool’s Day joke. Really.

Alberta man may be first to sell house for bitcoin virtual currency
Like countless young men across North America, Taylor More likes sports and hanging out with friends. And if his latest project pans out he’ll be unique — the first person to sell a house for bitcoins.

Mr. More’s two-bedroom bungalow “with beautiful mountain views” is priced at the equivalent of $405,000 in bitcoins.

A so-called crypto-currency that exists only electronically, bitcoin was created in 2009 and has grown in popularity, the darling of digital enthusiasts and, increasingly, doubtful types who value the anonymity and ease of doing business it provides.

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Hands of Japanese engineer Yasushi Matoba (L) on water projecting lights as on a screen on March 20, 2013 during the 15th edition of Laval Virtual, an international meeting on vitual reality and converging technologies, in Laval, western France. (JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images)

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Holy Spock! BlackBerry inventor now wants to build Star Trek-like tricorder
Mike Lazaridis, inventor of the BlackBerry smartphone, is starting a $100 million quantum technology fund that’s aiming to turn devices like the medical tricorder from “Star Trek” into reality.

“What we’re excited about is these little gems coming out,” Lazaridis said in an interview in Toronto. “The medical tricorder would be astounding, the whole idea of blood tests, MRIs — imagine if you could do that with a single device. That may be possible and possible only because of the sensitivity, selectivity and resolution we can get from quantum sensors made with these quantum breakthroughs.”

Star Trek-like holodeck may be closer to reality than you think
Perhaps no other piece of fictional technology from the Star Trek universe — with the exception of the iconic transporter that first “beamed up” characters from the original 1960s series starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk — has inspired the imagination of fans and the general public quite like the holodeck.

While the technology needed to create a virtual reality chamber once seemed light years away, many technology companies are already working on early prototype designs for holodeck-style chambers, and technologists now believe machines worthy of bearing the name “holodeck” could be as little as 10 to 15 years away from realization. (Handout/Paramount Pictures)

Police can look through a password-less phone without a warrant, says court
Ontario’s highest court has signalled that the right of police officers to look through someone’s phone depends on whether there’s a password.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario says it’s all right for police to have a cursory look through the phone upon arrest if it’s not password protected, but if it is, investigators should get a search warrant.

The court’s ruling comes in the case of a man who appealed his robbery conviction, arguing that police breached his charter rights by looking through his phone after his arrest. (Fotolia)

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Could you live without a smartphone for a day? These people do it every day. And love it
Spring Gillard, pictured above, doesn’t have a smartphone — or even a cellphone. Does it hold her back in business? Hardly, even if the declaration does sometimes befuddle clients and co-workers.
[Photo credit: Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press]

Political cartoonist Gary Clement’s week in review

RIM changes name to ‘BlackBerry’ as it unveils new smartphones
Research In Motion finally unveiled BlackBerry 10 and its first two next-generation smartphones Wednesday as the embattled phone maker looks to turn around its fortunes. Would you buy one? (Scott Eells/Bloomberg)