It’s official. The world is gizmo-gadget obsessed. Even in gambling. I reckon it stands to reason that if you grow up in the digital age where everything is virtual and everyone has a password like they have a cellphone, it only stands to reason that, like newspapers before them, poker tables are rapidly going the way of the doo-doo. The Pokermate Table not only gives players touchscreen interfaces to use for game play and betting, it’s also yet another guard against card counters who seek a legal, but wholely frowned upon gaming advantage.

The idea comes from the fact that more and more gamblers are learning the game from online casinos, and as such, simply are more used to playing the game virtually than holding a pair of aces and eights in their hand. There’s a main screen for everyone to keep track of the game from a bird’s eye view. It also calculates pots (and side pots) and rake, and keeps track of everyone’s chips — all without error. And the interface even automatically deals players their virtual cards and players just tap on the corners of the hand to reveal the cards.

But seriously, aside from winning virtual pots that credit your account, where’s the fun? Where’s the excitement of holding that one card short of a flush and drawing that card you need and actually holding it? The feel of the wax, staring intently at your opponents face over their hand as you desperately try and crack their tell? And where’s the fun of not being able to toss in your chips or sliding a gigantic pile into the center as you go all in? It’s kinda spoiling the fun like electronic slots ruined the whole jackpot experience.

It may go a long way towards catching cheaters, but this gizmo doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Hat Tip - D’Vice
[ Pokermate table makes the game digital. But where’s the fun in that? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

It’s official. The world is gizmo-gadget obsessed. Even in gambling. I reckon it stands to reason that if you grow up in the digital age where everything is virtual and everyone has a password like they have a cellphone, it only stands to reason that, like newspapers before them, poker tables are rapidly going the way of the doo-doo. The Pokermate Table not only gives players touchscreen interfaces to use for game play and betting, it’s also yet another guard against card counters who seek a legal, but wholely frowned upon gaming advantage.

The idea comes from the fact that more and more gamblers are learning the game from online casinos, and as such, simply are more used to playing the game virtually than holding a pair of aces and eights in their hand. There’s a main screen for everyone to keep track of the game from a bird’s eye view. It also calculates pots (and side pots) and rake, and keeps track of everyone’s chips — all without error. And the interface even automatically deals players their virtual cards and players just tap on the corners of the hand to reveal the cards.

But seriously, aside from winning virtual pots that credit your account, where’s the fun? Where’s the excitement of holding that one card short of a flush and drawing that card you need and actually holding it? The feel of the wax, staring intently at your opponents face over their hand as you desperately try and crack their tell? And where’s the fun of not being able to toss in your chips or sliding a gigantic pile into the center as you go all in? It’s kinda spoiling the fun like electronic slots ruined the whole jackpot experience.

It may go a long way towards catching cheaters, but this gizmo doesn’t sound like fun to me.

Hat Tip - D’Vice
[ Pokermate table makes the game digital. But where’s the fun in that? copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
<hr noshade /Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

Clearly, Acer's G24 monitor is the only monitor capable of matching your high-performance Predator gaming rig. It's orange... or "metallic copper" if you work in Acer's arts and charts department. Bounced around trade shows for the last month, the 24-inch LCD is now officially featuring a proclaimed 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio which, according to a Acer, is a world's first for monitors. Now the specs: 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 2-ms response, 400-nit brightness, and a host of Acer image tweaking and color management tech meant to brighten images and avoid ambient light reflection. Around back you'll find PC-friendly DVI and game-console/Blu-ray friendly HDMI too. Unfortunately, it's dateless and priceless just like Britney's little sister.

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

Clearly, Acer's G24 monitor is the only monitor capable of matching your high-performance Predator gaming rig. It's orange... or "metallic copper" if you work in Acer's arts and charts department. Bounced around trade shows for the last month, the 24-inch LCD is now officially featuring a proclaimed 50,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio which, according to a Acer, is a world's first for monitors. Now the specs: 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 2-ms response, 400-nit brightness, and a host of Acer image tweaking and color management tech meant to brighten images and avoid ambient light reflection. Around back you'll find PC-friendly DVI and game-console/Blu-ray friendly HDMI too. Unfortunately, it's dateless and priceless just like Britney's little sister.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Although the latest studies show that over half of America now enjoys a broadband connection, the other half simply says they are just fine with that twirling handshake and crawling download speeds. According to the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project study, the flashing VCR crowd stick with overpriced and snail-slow dialup not because simply because don’t have to have the fastest Internet access on the block.

The total percentage of dial-up only preferences totals out at about 10 percent of Americans. While a whopping 55% enjoy broadband internet servicing for video and audio downloading, the remaining 35% either don’t have broadband in their area just yet or consider it too expensive. The remaining just don’t have a need for blinding internet access as they use the internet for checking email and the occasional google search and of those, 35 percent of dial-up users said nothing was going to convince them to get broadband service.

What’s interesting is that even though internet growth is near exponential in this country – rapidly replacing letter writing and television watching, 27 percent of adult Americans don’t Internet users at all. Who are these people? Mostly retirement age and low income American’s, according to the study, but still, that’s nearly a quarter of Adult America who doesn’t use either at home or work. So much for the bridge to the 21st century.

Hat Tip - Digital Trends
[ Flashing VCR crowd speaks, no broadband for them copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
<hr noshade /Cool Gift Idea: Digital Picture Frames, check out our reviews.