Gearlog's alcohol lab testing continues with Q3 Innovations' third model, the AlcoHAWK Micro. The Micro is the smallest in the AlcoHAWK series and fits right on your keychain.
PC Magazine's Erin Simon happily took the Micro for a night out on the town in NYC, hopping from bar to bar. The digital breathalyzer was lucky enough to see the likes of Nancy's Whiskey Pub, Union Pool, 17 Bar, and a couple of other bars in Brooklyn.
After chugging down two beers, Erin blew into the device for about 5 seconds and tested a .03. After three beers, she tested at .06. At the end of the night, the Micro displayed a .12 after she devoured 6 or so beers.
However, the Micro can test BAC levels up to .12 only, so her BAC level may have been higher than what the device told her. She felt that the device took a very long time to calibrate when you first turn it on. Plus, there's no timer on the device (like the one on the ABI and Slim I tested the week before), so it was difficult to know when to test your BAC level; you had to wait for the device to beep before it's ready to use.
On the other hand, she liked the size of the device, since it's hard to lose (unless of course, you lose your keys, then you're screwed), and she felt that it was a rather good icebreaker when it came to conversating.
When I spoke with Q3 Innovations, they informed me that the Micro is a good tool for a quick screening, especially for parents who want to test their kids when they come home from a party. But, if you're a regular Joe drinker, then you're better off with a device that can test BAC levels .2 and above.
Although I wasn't in Los Angeles to attend the Nintendo Press Conference today, I was able to watch it on an LCD screen at the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Center in NYC. Nintendo wants to "challenge conventional thinking" by offering a new handheld remote controller that gives you freehand control in a simple and intuitive style. Their main focus is to break the barrier between those who play video games and those who do not, and bring them together.
Nintendo presented various clips from its upcoming games for both the Wii and the DS Lite, and showed us how to use the Wii Remote. The Wii Remote includes a built-in speaker and two motion sensors so you feel as if you are part of the game. We could hear the sound of a tennis racket hitting a ball and a sword used to slash an enemy.
Among the new games to be offered for the Wii (which is expected for Q4 2006) are Metroid 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Excite Truck, Project Hammer, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Red Steel, Madden 07, Rayman, and perhaps the most anticipated: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. If you are attending the E3 show, you'll have the chance to play one of the 27 games on the show floor.
What really excited me were the Wii Sports titles, which will include tennis, baseball, and golf. I remember playing the tennis game on my old-school Nintendo GameBoy and would always get frustrated when I'd miss the ball (even though it looked like I hit it!). You can see the Nintendo execs and the winner of the Wii contest at the right trying to play.
Wii will also feature a built-in Virtual Console and backward compatibility with GameCube, letting you access Nintendo games from the NES, Super NES, and Nintendo 64. Alright!
In related news, Nintendo DS Lite will launch June 11th at a price of $129.99. Expect more than 100 games to be released, including New Super Mario Bros, DK: King of Swing, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team, Star Fox, Kirby, and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
The Ziff Davis gaming site 1Up is in Los Angeles covering the Electronic Entertainment Expo, known to most as E3--it's an enormous trade show for games, gaming peripherals, game technology, and anything else you can think off that is even tangentially associated with games. The show itself doesn't open till Wednesday, but some of the biggest press conferences happen earlier, such as Nintendo's. (And from my years at E3, Nintendo draws the most enthusiastic crowd by far.)
For those of us who can't be there in person, go to 1Up's site at 9:30 Pacific time, 12:30 Eastern time, for a live stream of the conference. And check out all the other coverage of the show there, too.
It finally has an official name, a shipping date and specs. The new Qosmio, dubbed the G35-AV650, will be available at Toshiba's website on May 12th and hitting retail markets on May 15th. The AV650 will have the highly anticipated HD-DVD Rom and the HDMI Output port. The bad news is that this is a read-only drive. If you want the actual HD DVD burner, you might want to wait for the next Qosmio revision. Also, there are only a handful of HD DVD movies currently available, but it's a growing list. You can find a total of 18 titles on Amazon's site.
Below is a side by side comparison of the AV650 and our current Editor's Choice.
Quick. Composed Mainstream. That's my quick take on the current fleet of Toyota and Lexus hybrids, including the new Toyota Camry hybrid and Lexus GS 450h hybrid. All had fine acceleration; a couple emitted more noise from the engine compartment that their non-hybrid counterparts. While the gasoline engine is more powerful, these hybrids typically start off under electric-motor battery power and use the gas engine as needed for acceleration and recharging the battery. Here are capsule reviews, based on brief test drives.
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