The Wiimote is surely catching the eye of many manufacturers - even Microsoft and Sony have recently been rumored to come up with new controllers that seem to be taking a page from Nintendo's waggler. Evidence of a new patent from Apple hints of a new remote control system similar to Nintendo's Wiimote controller. The new filing was recently sighted on the US Patent & Trademark Office website and outlined the technical specifications for it, along with several possible applications. You can read more about the latest patent idea from Apple by clicking on the "read more" link found below.

 

It's another year of new gadgets and toys for the modern man, and PC World's Top 100 Best Products of 2007 listed stuff you don't wanna miss. Among all the techy stuff, Nintendo Wii climbed its way up to third place and manifested its domination.

Apple's jack-of-all-trades when it comes to media streaming hardware, Apple TV, took 11th spot. Playable formats may be limited, but this convenient and easy to use entertainment package is worth the money you'll put on it.

Wii is not the only console on the list, Xbox 360 Elite also got its share of fame. Its HDMI 1.2 connector and massive 120GB hard drive gave it a boost to the 18th spot. When talking about gadgets, it's pretty hard not to include iPod in the conversation. The hefty 80GB Apple iPod took 26th place, followed by the smaller 8GB iPod Nano on the 45th.

To see the entire list, click on the Read link below.

""In a report by Next Generation, ABI Research director Mike Wolf speculated that North American Internet-to-TV video solutions will reach US$ 1.5 billion in revenue. However, instead of the available Internet-to-TV hardware solutions, Wolf believes that it will be consoles to spur the immediate growth of the market.

 

Wolf speculates that all this will happen in the next five years. So according to his estimates, customers on next-gen consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will comprise almost 60% of the market revenue by 2012. He even notes that consoles could overtake even Steve Jobs' Apple TV.

Because of the multiple entertainment capabilities of such consoles and their requirement for broadband connections, consumers would find more value and appeal in game consoles as capable Internet-to-TV products. That doesn't include the roomy hard drive storage and the fact that the console is already next to a TV.

However, the console has a long way to go to make waves in the market. ABI Research's recently conducted study entitled "Over-the-Top Internet Video to the TV" pointed out that 71% of people who purchase video over the Internet do so on a PC. 16% of the remaining simply burns the video into DVD and watches it on TV, while 8% download and view videos on their video console.

Aside from the fact that only 12% of the surveyed people do purchase videos online, the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii will also have to contend with next-generation Internet-to-TV products from Comcast and Netgear, aside from the Apple TV and Sony's own future Internet-to-TV entertainment products.

But consoles already have an edge in growth: Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all provide online purchase options by drawing funds from accounts. If Wolf's predictions do come true, analysts believe the console rise in the market will be phenomenal. "“This is just the beginning,” Wolf concluded.

Orb Networks is priming itself to be a main contender against Apple's Apple TV. The company has just announced that their free MyCasting software now works with the Microsoft Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, and the Sony PS3, giving gamers the ability to bring all digital media to their TV screen without any additional costs or hardware requirements.

The free MyCasting software allows users to enjoy all digital media from their home PC, as well as online videos, on any networked device with an internet browser - be it other PCs, laptops, PDAs, mobile phones with support for streaming players, and now, next gen videogame consoles.

"There is a lot of anticipation on who will finally crack the code on opening the PC-to-TV connection - especially on what Apple TV can deliver," said Joe Costello, Chairman and CEO of Orb Networks. "That day is here and 17 million households - right this minute - can download Orb onto their home PC, then go turn on their TV, and using their game console, start enjoying any of the personal media on their PC or anything on the Web instantly - without having to purchase another gadget to make it work."