You may soon need to be extra careful when you wave your hands around—and it’s not because you might hit somebody. You may be sending your computer and every other digital object you own a message of some sort or another thanks to the growing market for gesture controllers.

Nintendo’s Wii got the world swinging its body around to control images on their screens. Microsoft’s Kinect allowed users to control their Xboxes and PCs with hand gestures and now a new wave of controllers and interfaces are planned to hit the market this year.

In May, the Leap Motion 3D gesture controller, which allows users to control their PCs with hand gestures, will be found in Best Buys for $80. The company sees itself as different from Kinect because its controller can follow "all ten fingers up to 1/100th millimeter at up to 290 frames per second" and is "200 times more sensitive than existing motion-control technology," according to pcpro.com.

Thalmic Labs is releasing MYO, which goes around a person’s forearm and can sense their movements, allowing for control of actual devices rather than just computers. QZ.com has it that “this raises the stakes in the gestural interface game.” It’ll be on the market in late 2013 for $149. Continue reading...

Conventional wisdom in recent months has had it that the video-game-console business is a dying one. Even though it still brings in big bucks, the culture is changing and people are playing games in different ways thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices and smartphones.

As noted by the New York Times, Nintendo — one of the game-console industry’s biggest names — really needs the new Wii U, a combo of a more audacious Wii and a tabletish gamepad that allows for multiscreen gaming adventures, to be a mega-hit. And it is looking like the company's launch campaign is paying off. Video game retailer GameStop opened 3,000 of its stores Friday at midnight to kick off Black Friday and promptly sold out of all of its Wii U consoles, the Times reports.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America subsequently told the NYT that the new console is selling in the U.S. as well as the original Wii did when it launched. More than 400,000 units flew out of stores in its first week on the market, which ended Saturday. The original Wii had sold 475,000 in that same time. “We are essentially sold out at retail,” Fils-Aime said. “As soon as we replenish product to retailers, it sells out immediately.”Continue reading...

K-pop phenom Psy's "Gangam Style" video beats Justin Bieber record to become YouTube's most-viewed video ever, with 805 million views on Friday (knocking on 824 million views now) to Bieber's 803 million for "Baby." Bieber, meanwhile, insults fellow Canadians by wearing overalls to pick up award from Prime Minister.

GM considers Buick logo change and bets it can make the 54-year-old Chevy Impala a head-turner again.

Black Friday in-store sales undercut by Thanksgiving early bird shoppers, mobile and e-commerce shoppers.

GSK and other pharma anger critics by paying for studies.

Hostess Brands eyed by Flower Foods.

Mango replaces Kate Moss with Miranda Kerr.

McDonald's testing Egg White McMuffin and variations on Quarter Pounder.

Mercedes-Benz taps Kate Upton for Super Bowl.

Nintendo's revamped Wii takes aim at a changed game world.Continue reading...

Following last week's UK kick-off, Nintendo released its Wii U campaign today for the US, with the spot above touting its new home game console (and a view of the future in which players apparently live in cubes). It also kicked off a cross-promotional partnership with Burger King: between now and December 2nd, kids can collect ten Wii U and Mario themed toys with the purchase of a Kids Meal. The Wii U, a follow-up to the Wii, will debut on Nov. 18 starting at $299.

It used to be that if someone wanted to get close to a storm, they had to be one of those crazy storm chaser people immortalized in the film, “Twister.” Now, through the wonder of technology, consumers can overstuff their brains with up-to-the-second storm info, while officials warn citizens to not rush into harm's way just to take a cool pic for Instagram. Who needs a police scanner?

Of course, in today’s branded world, it should surprise no one that all those new tools that help everybody see what Hurricane Sandy is up to are also tools to help brands share their name as well. Google created an interactive crisis map that offers, as Fast Company notes, “weather updates, evacuation routes, and information that Google hopes will help people stuck in the path of the storm as well as those out of danger who are monitoring the situation.” New York City’s chief digital officer, Rachel Haot, expressed her thanks on Twitter.Continue reading...

Acer postpones launch of Alibaba-powered phone.

Apple fights to keep iPhone cool in China as larger screen of iPhone 5 sparks developer rush and NFC omission puzzles observers.

Beef Products faces high hurdle in "pink slime" lawsuit against ABC News.

Brand USA tourism push sets sights on India.

Burger Lounge and Counter Burger offer non-traditional meats.

Disney takes film write-down.

Dr Pepper gets flack on Facebook after posting evolutionary graphic.Continue reading...

America is settling in for a long summer of campaigning between the Democratic candidate President Obama and the Grand Old Party’s Mitt Romney. News of minor flubs by candidates and those who work for them will come up at bars, barbecues, and ice-cream joints across the land (or be completely avoided, for everyone’s safety).

Americans will likely hear a constant media drumbeat about red states vs. blue states that will be so loud, it will seem that the country is about to burst into a Civil War.

Just in time for this comes a new study from Buyology that members of the two political parties don’t just disagree on their candidates. They also mostly disagree on the brands they love, though there are three that help bring them together. Next time a president wants to have a bipartisan summit of some sort, he or she might want to involve Coke, Apple, and Visa. Those three names were named by both parties as brands they love.Continue reading...

The annual E3 video-game conference this week is bringing gamers a flurry of announcements to keep them excited about where the ever-evolving industry will take them next.

Ahead of the annual confab, Nintendo released a video (watch it below) to showcase how its new Wii U console (called the Wii U GamePad) will use social networking in new ways. “The machine will promote the Miiverse in which users can see what others are playing, share self-created game content and swap gaming tips,” the BBC reports.

The plan is for users to be able to connect into the network not just from the new console, but from PCs, smartphones, and 3DS handhelds.Continue reading...