Interviews -- Engadget

Joystiq interviews Trent Reznor

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 25th 2009 at 5:34AM

Joystiq has an excellent interview with independent noise harnessers, Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan, of Nine Inch Nails fame. Unlikely guests for the 'stiq until they begin reminiscing about their Pong roots and flame-baiting the PS3 and Xbox 360 faithful. They also hint at near-term plans to develop "some entertainment-based video game–type stuff" while lambasting a record industry looking to Rock Band and Guitar Hero for its salvation. You get the idea, gaming nerds nerding-out about gaming only using a few more expletives than moms would probably like.

The interview goes much deeper than you might have realized. The "lost questions" are now posted on Dustin Burg's personal blog. There you'll find Trent (a man who successfully trail-blazed riches at the dawn of the digital age without major label support) and Rob discussing modern music distribution techniques, the limitations of social media for engaging fans, and software application development on modern smartphones. Fascinating insight for both consumers and the industry executives controlling the music, video, and apps we crave from the artists that create them.

For example, in discussing why people steal music, Trent soberly notes that, "People aren't stealing music to make money. They steal because they love music." This isn't about bootlegging anymore. Accepting this, Reznor chose to engage his fans in a new way instead of fighting them:

"...that's why we released our recent records for free. That's why we came up with the pricing tiers that we did, giving people something that had value for their money if they wanted it. But we gave it away for those who aren't going to pay anyway and figured that maybe we can at least get their email address and let them know when our next record is coming out. Or, maybe, we can let them know when our next concert is coming up."

Pretty savvy. More after the break.

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Bill Gates: Natal for Windows coming to an office near you

by Thomas Ricker posted Jul 15th 2009 at 4:58AM

The idea of bending over to pick up a virtual tennis racket in front of that 50-inch flat screen in our living room makes perfect sense to us. In fact, we can't wait to see Natal come to the Xbox platform. However, the idea of manipulating an excel spreadsheet on a 15-inch screen within a 5 x 5-foot cubicle sounds daunting, to say the least. Fortunately, Microsoft's plans to integrate Natal into corporate Windows environments appears rather sober, albeit, entirely lacking in specifics. In an interview with CNET news, Bill Gates says that Natal's depth-sensing camera won't be limited to gaming use, "but for media consumption as a whole, and even if they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication." Without going into detail, the Microsoft Chairman adds that use of the technology in the office, "is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting." In fact, Bill sees it delivering "incredible value" when used within cubicle farms. Perhaps. We certainly won't argue the value of Natal for gaming or even manipulating content in a home theater setup like we've seen with Toshiba's Spatial Motion Interface, but for the office, incredible value... really?

Video: Hands-on with SPRXmobile's Layar augmented reality browser for Android

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 18th 2009 at 7:59AM

We had a chance to go hands-on with Layar, the new augmented reality browser from SPRXmobile. Launched yesterday on Android Market in The Netherlands, we were curious to see how the software, that looked damn-impressive in the promo video, would function in actual use, in this case, from the living room of SPRXmobile's Maarten Lens-FitzGerald just outside of Amsterdam. Our take? it's the real-deal, especially for a v1 release. The software looks rock-solid and the initial data layers -- ATMs, social joints like cafes and clubs, and job listings -- appear fully populated and thus, useful. The ATM and cafe/club layers (or layars) are definitely helpful for serendipitous discovery though we're still scratching our heads over the job search layar. See, what you're discovering are jobs you can apply for from that particular employment office, not jobs necessarily available in that specific neighborhood or office building. Next month, Layar will have access to what could be its killer app (or killer data layar) called Funda, the site in The Netherlands for finding places to rent or buy. Of course, you can imagine travel guide companies like Let's Go and Frommers jumping into this with huge effect as well. And really, it's content that's going to make this type of augmented reality software a success. Maarten tells us that more partner announcements are expected this week with expansion into the US, Germany, and UK anticipated later this year on Android devices and on the iPhone 3G S (compass required). Check the interview and demo after the break.

Update: New layers announced including Google local search (that's a ton of content), Tweets Nearby (exactly what it sounds like), and ANWB (Dutch AAA) coming in July.

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