Why is Israel so awesome? Gaming's Augmented Reality Future

We've seen augmented reality put ads on buildings and give cars superpowers. But when applied to a first-person shooter game like in this video? That's taking the intensity up just a notch or ten.

As you can see, once the player puts on his augmented reality helmet and goggles his surroundings are suddenly populated by machine-gun-toting baddies wielding SWAT-level armor. It seems like there's no penalty for shooting the "hostages," but anyone who's seen Speed knows that's just how it should be.

This is just a demo, so no telling how long until it's viable for mass use. But you know what I think? I think this technology and Duke Nukem Forever are destined for a simultaneous release. [Nowhere Else]

Google Buzz on Phones: Location Is the Killer App

Google Buzz is actually slightly more insane on Android phones and iPhone than the desktop: There's a revamped, Buzzier Google homepage; you can post entirely using your voice; and a new version of Google Maps eats Yelp's lunch.

There's three components to mobile: A new mobile Google homepage with automatic geo-location and Buzz integration; a web app for Android phones and iPhone located here with full, incredible speech-to-text powers (especially with Android, which uses the built-in search widget); and a new version of Google Maps that tightly bundles location with Buzz.

In fact, location is the true killer feature here. While it lacks the gaming component of Foursquare, it's central to the mobile version of Buzz. Whenever you post buzz from your phone, it's (optionally) geo-tagged, and Buzz tries to figure out where you're at, offering a list of nearby locations it thinks you're at, and then embeds a map in your buzz showing your location. With nearby view, you can see what people are talking about around you, even people you're not following. From there, you can jump directly into a Google Places listing with reviews and comments. It's also another data layer in the new version of Maps, for you to see what's up nearby.

If there's anything it has as a one-up on Twitter, it's location. Because it's deep, and contextual, thanks to all of the services Google has, like Maps and Places.

Samsung's first Bada phone with Super AMOLED to be announced on February 14th? Sure.

By now you're undoubtedly aware than Samsung has a new smartphone OS (Bada) and touchscreen technology (Super AMOLED) in the works. In this case, putting 2 and 2 together yields 14, a number that matches Samsung's February 14th press event at Mobile World Congress. How so? Well, first of all, Sammy is promoting the Samsung Unpacked teaser page from its Bada site. The ocean-themed teaser ("bada" means "ocean" in Korean) says, "on 2.14 a new mobile from Samsung is born. See it first in Barcelona." A quick look at the teaser site's source reveals the keywords "Bada," "smartphone," and "AMOLED." In other words, you can bet that Samsung will be unveiling a 3.3-inch, 800 x 480 pixel Super AMOLED (already rumored for a next week reveal) touchscreen Bada phone on February 14th.

P.S. The image above comes courtesy of GSM Arena. While the site won't say what the device is on the left it's clearly running Samsung's Bada UI and is likely AMOLED judging by those deep blacks. The display is also slightly smaller than the iPhone 3G's 3.5-inch display. Gee... what could it be?

ATI Radeon HD 5570 fills the last remaining gap in DirectX 11 empire

ATI seems to be so enamored with its 40nm DirectX 11 Evergreen chips that at this point it's bringing out new graphics cards just to remind us of how awesome its technology is. Slotting in between the $100 HD 5670 and $50 HD 5450, the new Radeon HD 5570 will predictably retail at around $75 to $80, with up to 1GB of onboard GDDR3, a 650MHz core clock speed, and a thrifty 43W power budget under full load. Reviewers were big fans of its performance relative to the HD 5450 -- nearly doubling it in some cases -- but still struggled to recommend this as a better value for gamers than the only marginally more expensive HD 5670. Then again, the low profile card, single-slot cooler, and minimal power requirements make the 5570 an absolute gem for HTPC or SFF setups, so whether you're in that particular market or just curious, we recommend you check out the full reviews below.

Read - HotHardware
Read - AnandTech
Read - HardOCP
Read - Legit Reviews

Peter Moore wants to be convinced by OnLive, already a fan of Arc controller

Peter Moore, formerly the big cheese in charge of Xbox, is now the head of EA Sports, but he's lost none of the forthrightnessthat's made him a popular man to interview in the past. In his latest sitdown with CVG, Peter expressed his admiration for the nascent OnLive cloud gaming service, but also noted that he remains uncertain as to whether it will actually work when millions of people decide to play the same game at the same time -- a reservation we probably all share. He did point out that the sort of readily accessible gaming OnLive represents was in his company's plans, and would be expanded with more browser-based games. Finally, as someone who's seen thePlayStation 3 Arc controller in action Peter should be well qualified to assess it, and he describes it as a "great complement to what's out there," claiming that it brings a substantially different experience to Nintendo's Wii Remote. Check out the source for the full interview.

Joystiq CVG