Every once and awhile, a groundbreaking idea creeps into the world of film and has experts and connoisseurs puzzled at exactly how it will play out to a mass audience. Whether it’s something like 3D that hits it big, or something that flops like “4D”, there is always room for new ideas and potential leaps in technology when it comes to the theatrical experience.

13th Street, a production company out of Germany, has recently tested out their newest project, which combines the classic horror film with the interactivity of a modern game show. Each viewer uses their cell phone to call in to the service and at the beginning of the film, one of them is chosen at random to “speak directly” with the film’s protagonist. From there, that person gives voice commands that dictate which direction the character will go, and what they will say.

Obviously, there are some pretty big potential flaws with this idea, such as “who wants to watch a movie when it’s encouraged for some jerk to scream at the screen?” or “why would I spend money for somebody else to interact with the film?” These are all valid points, which means that we could still be years away from seeing this project take off internationally.

The sheer idea that something like this is on the way only means that we’re getting that much closer to a Back to the Future 2-like lifestyle, which is exciting in it’s own right. Check out the trailer for Last Call and see exactly how it all works after the jump.

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Remember about a decade ago when everybody and their mother was using sound boards of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris Walken to prank call their friends and show off to their friends without phones? Well, after the age of the smart phone hit, not many people got the chance to punctuate their funny moments with cool catchphrases from their favorite flick. Until now, that is.

MGM has recently gone deep into their vault with some great sound board Apps. For just a buck, you are able to call up some of your favorite quotes from Army of Darkness, Silence of the Lambs, Robocop, Fargo, or just about any of the Rocky films. It was hard to believe that it could get any cooler than your phone yelling out “This is my boomstick!” until now.

Just released last week, the Hot Tub Time Machine Sound Board has been making it’s way up the ranks of the iTunes App Store. Not only do you get over 6 full pages of sound bites from the film’s stars like John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke, but there’s also a direct link to the film’s trailer, as well as a synopsis, so you can explain to your friends exactly why you’re so stoked for this movie to come out.

Be sure to grab the Hot Tub Time Machine Sound Board App from the iTunes App Store (for free!), and catch Hot Tub Time Machine when it hits theaters on March 19th.

Move over, Wii. You’re no longer the only motion-controlled gaming system in town. While Playstation 3’s Sixaxis controller had some motion-sensing capabilities, it wasn’t much to write home about. But yesterday, at Sony’s GDC press conference, the company officially revealed their new motion-controller, simply called “The Move.”

Looking curiously similar to the Wii-mote, the Move will feature True 3D rotation, buttons similar to the regular Sixaxis, and an analog trigger. The Move also has rechargeable batteries, and plugs into the same USB port as the Sixaxis.  The device seems to have two controllers, like the Wii-mote and nunchuck combination seen on the Wii.

The difference is that the Move’s two devices are connected wirelessly. The Move is said to be far more sensitive and responsive than its predecessor, because it uses the Playstation Eye to detect movement as opposed to a sensor bar like the Wii.

Games like LittleBigPlanet and EyeToy were demoed with the Move, and third party publishers like Square Enix, Konami, EA, Ubi, Disney, Sega, WBI, Crave, and Activision are all behind this new technology. It also looks like the Playstation 3 will start getting ports of games originally slated for the Wii, the first one being The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.

The Move will be released on its own, bundled with the Playstation Eye, and in a Playstation 3 bundle. No idea how much the controller will cost on its own, but bundled with the Eye it’ll set you back about $99. You’ll be able to get your hands on the Move this fall.

Who hasn’t walked down the street and seen people with their heads buried in their iPhones? And you know they aren’t all looking up stock quotes or making work calls. Most are playing Paper Toss or checking in with Foursquare. We even see those jealous Verizon customers with their Droids as they secretly wait for their carrier to pick up the iPhone.

Smart phones are the way technology is pointing with their layers of functionality and ever increasing capabilities. That’s why it wasn’t a surprise Thursday morning when the Wall Street Journal reported that Sony would be entering the smart phone arena. Of special interest to this particular item though is that it will be “capable of downloading and playing PlayStation games”, possibly referring to PlayStation One titles specifically.

Reported as a device that “blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable,” they are already expecting a 2010 launch. It is possible that Sony may make a big announcement regarding this phone next week during the Games Developers Conference.

With ever declining PSP sales and the lackluster response to the PSP Go, one would think the portable device market was in trouble. Nintendo has shown with the DS and the record breaking game sales of Plants vs. Zombies on the iPhone have shown that this isn’t the case however and that Sony is just searching for its niche still.

If you’re been waiting for an excuse to use that extra $499.00 you’ve got burning a hole in your wallet, Apple may have just given you one. Today, the company announced, via their website, that it will begin shipping its brand new tablet device, the iPad, on April 3rd and will begin taking pre-orders on March 12th.

This is great news for those of you who want to take your eBook reading to the next level and also for people who never jumped on the Kindle bandwagon. It’s also great news for those of you looking for a super-sized iPhone that will run all those cool apps without having to agree to a lengthy contract with AT&T. Although, if you do want to have such a contract (and 3G wireless), the iPad with 3G will be available later in April, complete with said AT&T contract.

Even though I’ve pointed out a few things I feel the iPad is missing (although some, like the camera, may actually be there after all) I still feel there’s some merit to the device. I would be even more excited if I didn’t already have a Kindle, which I feel, as a “single use” device, is actually better for reading books than the iPad will be.

Still, the iPad definitely has a lot of possibilities and I look forward to exploring those come April 3rd. Expect a full review of the iPad once I get my hands on one. Until then, if this device is truly for you, better start saving those pennies because April 3rd isn’t that far away.

If you’ve never been to Austin, TX during South by Southwest (SXSW), let me assure you AT&T’s network pretty much sucks during the fest. Sure, it has something to do with the sheer number of users concentrated all in one place but still, that doesn’t make it any better. So, to prevent a repeat of last years’s problems (To put it mildly) AT&T is going overboard to ensure a similar wireless network debacle doesn’t happen again this year.

To avoid a second such disaster, AT&T is pulling out all the stops (Well, most of them anyway) and bringing in a lot of additional equipment for the SXSW conference including:

• Bringing in three temporary cell sites that are positioned in areas expected to see high traffic.

• Installing a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at the Austin Convention Center. The DAS is comprised of 50 antenna nodes that provide the equivalent coverage of eight cell sites.

• Improving the cell sites in the surrounding area by utilizing 30MHz of spectrum for 3G instead of the standard 10MHz and upgrading the system to include the 850MHz band and HSPA.

• Improving the backhaul by beefing up the fiber optic connections that serve the eight cell sites of the DAS and the three temporary sites.

These all seems like great steps in the right direction for the company but still, you have to wonder if it will be enough. Even with AT&T’s recent victory in a PC World survey of network performance, many of us who use the network every day haven’t really seen much of a difference. It still kinda sucks.

When you’ve got thousands of power users with iPhones all in one square mile and all trying to use the network at the same time, will it be able to handle the load or will it fail once again? I guess we’ll find out next week. Any bets?

Back in 1999, a little company out of San Francisco invented and released a device that would allow TV watchers to freeze live television, as well as set their favorite shows to record–not on a VHS tape or DVD, but on a built in hard drive. Since that day, the idea of the Digital Video Recorder has become as globally common in the household as the coffee maker or dishwasher.

In the time following Tivo’s invention, many incarnations have been born to accommodate the growing popularity of YouTube, HD upgrades, and digital downloads of movies from Netflix or Amazon. Now, over a decade later, the company is ready to jump start the world into the upcoming digital era of media.

The new box, dubbed “Tivo Premiere”, will incorporate feature films, internet videos, music, and more web-based content to the Tivo subscribers, along with their regular TV-watching abilities. The big deal? This box will also be the first set-top device that can run Adobe Flash programming, allowing other third-party developers to create applications for the system. From THR:

Unveiled Tuesday at a party in New York, the $300 Premiere can store 400 hours of standard-definition programming and 45 hours of HD. A Premiere XL box at $500 can store 1,350 hours of standard definition and 150 hours of HD programming.

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With the idea of Hulu coming to the iPhone still a distant pipe dream, other services on the device seem to be closer to reality than we thought. Netflix, which is slowly but surely becoming the leading company in online movie and DVD rentals, has put out some feelers on their site to see if fans would be interested in a streaming service for the iPhone. From a survey on Netflix.com:

“Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their iPhone. The selection availability to instantly watch includes some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee.

Whenever you want to instantly watch content on your iPhone, your iPhone must be connected to a Wi-Fi network (such as one you might have at home or at work, or in public places like coffee shops, book stores, hotels, airports, etc.)

If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?”

So what could this mean? Is it just a ruse? With Netflix allegedly having an exclusive streaming deal with Xbox Live, this could mean that we won’t see anything on the iPhone for another year, but with the Apple iPad hitting stores in the coming months, that may be just enough time for us to be ready.

What are your thoughts on Netflix streaming on the iPhone or iPad? Would you use it? Comment below and let us know!

The guys at Square Enix have a big month coming up with the release of the long-awaited Final Fantasy XIII next week and announcements that three new add-ons are in the works for Final Fantasy XI. But also on the horizon is the beginning of beta testing for Final Fantasy XIV, their newest MMO.

According to 1Up.com, the first wave of beta invites for Final Fantasy XIV will be going out beginning March 11th to those who applied back in December. The beta will expand over time for those who aren’t initially invited. The beta will only be available on PC, at first, but the game is slated for release later this year so you won’t have to wait long to get your hands on the game for PS3.

Final Fantasy XIV takes place in the land of Eorzea, whose nations have banded together after constant war to stem the threat of the Garlean Empire. When the threat subsided, the resulting peace left many soldiers  without a job. As one of these soldiers, players will form guilds, becoming adventurers.

The game will be hitting the gaming shelves for PC and the PS3 this winter, and keep it here for more details as we get closer to it’s release.

According to various news sites across the Interwebs including Joystiq, 1Up, and Kotaku, Playstation 3 consoles across the globe have been suffering from what looks to be a global network lockdown. While it sounds like this would just affect people’s ability to do things like sign into their accounts, check their trophies, use dynamic themes or access the PlayStation Network, some users have reported that they can’t even play games.

Consoles most affected seem to be the older PS3 models, not the PS3 Slims released last year. Titles that are giving players issues, like the newly released Heavy Rain, will give users a screen stating “Registration of the trophy information could not be completed. The game will quit.” The console then reboots and returns to the main screen. This is incredibly frustrating, because even if the PSN is down, gamers should still be able to play their games offline without a problem.

Sony is aware of the PSN connection problems and is telling users to “stay tuned” for updates. But in the meantime, they advise you not to use your PS3. Hopefully, this is something that will be fixed very soon.