The iPotty trains kids to use the toilet and to play around on the iPad while they do so. Is this the best message to send?

We all know that tablet owners are far too inclined to bring their devices into bathroom when it’s time to go. And it looks like that number is about to be on the rise, even for the tiniest of tech-savvy users. We encountered the iPotty on the CES show floor this week and and we’re still conflicted about it. Should we really be teaching tots that the bathroom is an appropriate place for delicate electronics? Sure, having something to occupy you while you’re indisposed is nice. But if 2-year-olds can’t crap without an app to occupy them, what is the world coming to?

Parents are meant to use the iPotty as a toilet training tool, thus it has what you’d expect from such a product (such as a removable potty bowl). An iPad stand is attached to the front and includes a plastic cover/enclosure to protect the tablet from “messy hands.” The stand conveniently adjusts to three different angles and works either in portrait or landscape. If kids find the iPad too distracting, you can remove the stand altogether, but then you just have a normal plastic toilet. Boring!

The company behind the product, CTA Digital, doesn’t appear to be working on a potty app for toddlers, so there’s plenty of opportunity for some enterprising developer to create one.

Reps at CES claimed that toddlers in the toilet training phase often get bored and fidgety on the can, so the iPotty will help keep them sitting. I suppose that since they can’t read a magazine it’s fair to give them something they can do. Can’t have kids learning to deal with boredom.

Once your child is done with potty training the iPotty then transforms into a regular little iPad station thanks to a seat cover that makes the toilet into a normal seat. I’m not sure toddlers who’ve had to go through the horror of leaving diapers behind will ever want to deal with the instrument of their torture afterwards. Then again, since they’ll associate pooping with iPad game time the whole process won’t be as much of a trial.

Once kids graduate to the big toilet they will still expect the same level of tablet access. CTA has a solution for that, too: the Bathroom Tablet Stand for iPad.

Here again, you get to choose your orientation and angle. There’s even a convenient toilet paper holder! I think maybe the iPotty is a clever plan to train little people to need the Bathroom Tablet Stand when they get to be big people. Well played, CTA Digital. Well played.

You’ll probably see the iPotty wherever quality baby stuff is sold in the coming months. Our question is: will you buy it?

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The new XO Android tablet doesn’t look much like the original concept, but will come in at well under 0.

Last year the One Laptop Per Child project showed off a slate tablet dubbed the XO 3.0. Hailed as the next logical step in the OLPC mission to bring inexpensive, easy to maintain computers to children in developing countries, the XO 3.0 landed with a lot of fanfare but ultimately never came to fruition. The project went back to focusing on netbook-like tablet convertibles, but the OLPC slate idea didn’t die. This year, the XO tablet is back, though without the accompanying fanfare. Even more interesting, it’s being sold in retail stores and made by one of the biggest manufacturers of low-cost electronics for kids and teens: Vivitar.

In fact, the XO Learning Tablet looks almost identical to the company’s Camelio Android family tablets. OLPC’s tablet has better specs than the Camelio and will cost a bit more. And it looks almost nothing like the XO 3.0 from last year.

The 7-inch XO Learning Tablet has a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, front and rear cameras, HDMI out, and runs on Android 4.0. In other words, a pretty standard low-cost Android slate. It comes with a sleeve that makes it look somewhat like the renders of the original XO 3.0 tablet, and that’s where the similarities end. This tablet isn’t rugged, powered by the sun, or even easily fixable like the XO Tablet PC. So, what’s the point?

Price, most likely. The XO will cost $150, according to Vivitar reps, fulfilling the goal of an inexpensive tablet.

Granted, the XO also features OLPC’s learning platform, another key part of the project’s mission. Kids can choose to explore apps via “I Want To Be…” themes or just switch over to regular Android. Some parental controls are available.

What we find interesting is that OLPC decided to team up with a company like Vivitar, a subsidiary of Sakar. This company is known for creating low-end electronics and coating them with licensed brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Hello Kitty, Nickeloedon, and more. Essentially, the XO tablet is just another branded product in Vivitar’s stable destined for retail stores. There are even branded accessories.

Is this an acknowledgment that a tablet like the XO 3.0 just isn’t possible? Or is it a smart way to build up the OLPC coffers so the project has more money to put into development of their more serious computer?

Designed to keep a child on task at school or make sure they aren’t texting all night, Verizon’s FamilyBase app gives parents more insight into phone usage.

Detailed on NBC News this week, Verizon developers are currently working on a new project that can help parents keep an eye on their children’s cellular phone usage. Called Verizon FamilyBase, parents will need to load a special application on all wireless phones used within the family. The app provides a large amount of usage data to parents and allows them to view who a child is calling and texting as well as the time of the communication. However, parents won’t be able to view content within the text messages or listen to calls made over the child’s phone.

The FamilyBase application basically displays the volume of texts and calls during a day along with the incoming or outgoing status of each text or call.

In addition to that data, parents will be able to view what applications are being used on the Verizon phone as well as the length of time those applications are active on the phone. For instance, parents will be able to see how much time kids are spending browsing Facebook or playing a game like Angry Birds. 

Using the data, parents will be able to make more informed choices about their children’s phone privileges. The FamilyBase application also offers the ability to lock down a phone remotely which cuts off all access to voice calls, texting or data usage. However, a child will still be able to call emergency services if they are in serious trouble. 

This could be particularly useful if the parent notices that the child is using the phone to constantly send text messages while in class. Parents will be able to set a specific length of time that the locked period will last or create a weekly schedule for automatic locking. After the locking process is initiated, the child will see a message on their phone stating that the phone will be unlocked at a specific time. According to Verizon, the FamilyBase service will become available during Spring 2013. The company hasn’t released any pricing information on the cost of the service.

A marketing executive from Sony revealed the Japanese company plans to emulate elite Android manufacturer’s like Samsung by pumping out high-end smartphones and ignoring the cheaper, entry-level devices.

One of Android’s main differences when compared to iOS is the wide range of hardware that includes devices appealing to budget-conscious users and separate hardware for spec-hungry addicts. It sound like Sony might be changing that pattern. Sony’s Xperia product marketing manager, Stephen Sneeden, told CNET Asia that Sony wants to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung by focusing solely on high-end device.

“We’re ready to be a premium smartphone provider, logically then, at the very entry level is where you lost the ‘Sonyness.’ And it’s where you cannot implement some of these wonderful things from Sony at such a low cost, we might leave the very entry tier to some other manufacturers,” Sneeden said.

This statement comes on the heels of Sony releasing two new Xperia phones during CES 2013: the Xperia Z and the cheaper, Xperia ZL. Clearly, as the Japanese company released a mid-range and high-end device at CES, the company is still interested in catering to those two distinct product categories. Since Sony was the only major smartphone manufacturer to announce new devices, they have both received a lot of attention and Sony’s been enjoying its time in the spotlight.

Major manufacturers like Motorola and Samsung typically release a high-end device that features the best each company has to offer alongside a lower-end model that comes with a few compromises to reach a more affordable price. For Samsung, the Galaxy S line is the flagship device collection and entry-level handsets are released periodically throughout the year, though the devices rarely debut with any flare.

Since it’s the mid and high range of devices that Sony is targeting, it’s fortunate that both the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL look like Sony’s best smartphones yet. The two smartphones also show a new interest in introducing Sony hardware exclusives like the Mobile Bravia Engine 2 for display, Exmor RS for cameras, and the increasingly useful Battery Stamina software. If Sony wants to replicate the success of Samsung and Apple, these unique features are essential to standing out in the Android crowd. The question is whether the Android market has room for another Samsung.

How do you feel about Sony’s new approach to hardware? Do the latest Xperias have you hungry for more?

Come along with Jetsetter, Digital Trends’ weekly column about gaming outside the US, as we look at Australia’s very first game rated for ages 18 and up that’s published by, of all companies, Nintendo. Plus, news from Norway and the UK.

We have a whole lot of video games in this world today, but I want you all to know one thing: This is Jetsetter’s house. Whose house? Jetsetter’s house! I said whooooose house? JETSETTER’S HOUSE! In the house y’all, in the house y’all.

Welcome once more to Jetsetter, Digital Trends’ weekly column covering the international world of video games. We do more than trade in decades-old RUN-D.M.C. references, we talk about the games coming out outside the United States, the biggest video game market in the world, to give you a taste of what it’s like abroad. From French Canadian indie beat ‘em ups to Russian MMOs, Jetsetter has got you covered.

This week we start in Australia, where a long overdue changes in the game industry finally bear fruit, before going to check on Norway’s biggest MMO, and then looking at Microsoft’s latest business in the UK.

* Nintendo publishes Australia’s first Adult-rated game.

June was a momentous month for the Australian video game industry, because the country’s government finally introduced the R18+ rating for games. Prior to this year, games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Mortal Kombat have been barred from release since their was no classification marking games purely for adults. Up to now, though, no game released in Australia has actually received the R18+ rating. Nintendo and Team Ninja are blazing a new trail with the R18+-rated Australian release of Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge for Wii U. Due to “violence that is high in impact because of its frequency, high definition graphics, and emphasis on blood effects,” Ninja Gaiden 3 on Wii U will be Australia’s first adults-only game. It’s a strange world we live in when Nintendo, the company most obsessed with maintaining an image of family friendliness, is the publisher giving Australian gamers their first legal taste of ultra-violence.

* The Secret World finds new life in semi-free-to-play.

Norway’s Funcom has struggled to find a lasting audience for its ambitious MMO The Secret World. Since adopting a new semi-free-to-play sales model in December, wherein people who buy the game for $30 get access to all story content, massively improving the game’s lifetime sales in just a week. Where the company had only sold about 200,000 copies of the game back in August, it brought that total up to 300,000 in December. Pretty great news for players of the Ragnar TØrnquist-developed game since so much of its pleasures are reliant on a large number of players. Shame the influx of customers didn’t help Funcom much, as the studio announced a massive restructuring on Friday that will see staff laid off across all its offices in Norway, China, Switzerland, Canada, and the US.

* Microsoft expands its UK gaming business with new flagship studio.

As we reported on Thursday, Microsoft has opened anew studio called Lift London, assembled by former Sony Computer Entertainment executive Phil Harrison and led by ex-Rare Ltd. staff member Lee Schunerman. The studio will specialize in games that are services, more focused on updates made over the cloud than selling new disc-based games at stores. Lift London is also an incubator for young studios like London’s Dlala. It won’t just foster European development, though, it will specifically serve the European game maket. “Europe is our main focus,” said Schunerman during the press conference announcing Lift’s opening, “We are here to deliver entertainment as a service, when, where, and how you want it. We going beyond he box, onto tablets, mobile and TVs. And we are made in London, a diverse city that’s full of possibilites.” Okay, Mr. Schunerman, enough with the PR pap. No get back to making some games. Your most recent credits are on Kinect Sports and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Yeesh.

We’ve seen a wave of Android smartphones sporting 5-inch 1080p displays, quad-core processors, and 13-megapixel cameras unveiled at CES 2013, but you should probably wait for the Galaxy S4.

It hasn’t been an earth-shattering show for mobile this year. CES 2013 has thrown up some interesting devices, but the big players in mobile seem to be saving their announcements for MWC (Mobile World Congress) next month. If you’re in the market for an upgrade, you’d do well to bide your time and wait just a little longer to see what else is on the horizon. There will be new releases from HTC and LG, RIM’s BlackBerry 10 will arrive, and there’s never a shortage of new iPhone rumors, but the device you can’t afford to ignore is the Samsung Galaxy S4.

Bigger and better

Check out our Best of CES 2013 in Mobile to find full details on the devices that grabbed our attention. The “phablet” space is getting competitive with releases like the 6.1-inch Huawei Ascend Mate, and the market is predictably being flooded with new tablets, but there’s a lack of innovation in the smartphone segment. Sony’s new flagship, the Xperia Z, is a good example. It has a 5-inch 1080p display, a quad-core processor, and a 13-megapixel camera, just like the newly announced ZTE Grand S and the Huawei Ascend D2.

The Xperia Z definitely compares favorably with the Android leaders right now, but it doesn’t offer much beyond the HTC Droid DNA, which came out last November. A bigger camera and an impressive level of water resistance don’t qualify as big innovations.

We don’t have details on carriers or pricing yet, but the Xperia Z is a premium product and will no doubt have a price tag to match. The ZTE Grand S and Huawei Ascend D2 are launching in China and we don’t yet know when, or if, they’ll reach the states.

The truth is that none of the smartphones announced at CES 2013 should you have you running to the stores or phoning your carrier for an upgrade. When you factor in pricing, you could build a pretty strong case for the Pantech Discover being the most noteworthy release – it’s $50 on a two-year contract at AT&T and it has a 4.8-inch 720p display, a decent 1.5GHz dual-core processor, and a 12.6-megapixel camera. A variant called the Pantech Perception will also be available on Verizon.

You’ll be sorry if you don’t wait

If you’re looking for something slightly better than the Galaxy S3 then there are definitely some options out there, but what will Samsung bring to the table with the Galaxy S4? Until we see what Samsung’s new iteration has to offer, it would be jumping the gun to upgrade your smartphone.

The brand that Samsung has built with the Galaxy S series is impressive. The Galaxy S2 really upped the ante for Android and the Galaxy S3 took it to a whole new level. The Galaxy S3 has surpassed 30 million unit sales worldwide, making it Samsung’s most successful smartphone ever. It was the number one, best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of 2012, beating the iPhone into second place. It won a number of “phone of the year” awards and it is still going strong.

The S3 set the standard for Android smartphones and other manufacturers struggled to match it in the weeks and months following its May 2012 release.

The weight of expectation

Levels of expectation for the Galaxy S brand are sky high. We are starting to see the same kind of excited anticipation and the same explosion of rumors that traditionally precedes a new iPhone launch. That’s because Samsung has consistently kicked it up a gear. The specs for the S2 and S3 were streets ahead of the competition at the time of release. Only HTC came close to keeping up but poor marketing put paid to any chance of competing.

Samsung knows what is expected of it. The S4 has to blow the competition away. If it can’t do so in terms of raw power then there has to be a new innovation. The company is gargantuan with fingers in more pies than you can count and its vast resources allow incredibly fast turnaround times on new developments. We’ve seen teasers of flexible displays and eight core processors from Samsung at CES. It seems doubtful that either is ready to roll out in the Galaxy S4, but you never know.

When will we see it?

Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S2 at MWC back in February 2011, but it didn’t hit the market until May of the same year. The Galaxy S3 wasn’t unveiled until May 3rd 2012, but it was rolling out into the marketplace by the end of the same month. There are plenty of rumors about a March or April release, but why would Samsung break with the established cycle? We think a standalone Samsung event in May will be followed by the S4 release later the same month, just like the S3.

With the Galaxy S3 still selling so well and a distinct lack of pressure from rival manufacturers, Samsung can afford to wait a little longer and make sure it produces another standout device. Nothing at CES 2013 will have worried Samsung. MWC next month might be a different story. If something big from HTC or LG grabs the public’s attention then perhaps the S4 will break cover earlier, but we doubt you’ll be able to lay hands on one before the summer.

You might feel that another few months is too long to wait. That will largely depend on what you are rocking right now. If Samsung knocks it out of the ballpark for the third time in a row you’re going to lament that lack of patience – don’t say we didn’t warn you.

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Nvidia’s Shield would be impressive if it was just another Android gaming handheld, but it’s far more than that.

We’ve seen several Android gaming devices over the past year, and if CES is any indication we’re likely to see many more soon. Most of the gadgets we’ve seen enhance Android games, usually by adding a physical controller. Nvidia’s new Project Shield does that, too. And then it adds something more substantial: allowing users to play their PC games on the handheld. Yes, that sounds too good to be true. And yes, it totally works.

The actual Shield device looks like a standard console controller with a smartphone stuck on top, somewhat akin to the Moga Pro. That’s pretty much what the device is, except the screen is integrated into the whole device instead of being something separate. It’s lighter than we expected it to be, a good thing for a gaming console. After hours of gameplay, you don’t want your wrists or arms to feel tired. We also like how comfortable it felt. Our hands wrapped naturally around the device and we were able to reach all the buttons, analog sticks, and analog triggers with no trouble.

Nvidia’s Tegra 4 chip drives the Shield and thus the graphics and gaming performance is superb. The newly announced chip is the “World’s Fastest Mobile Processor” according to Nvidia and, from what we saw in our Shield demo, we have no reason to doubt that claim. We saw smooth performance in games, video, and while swiping through the interface. Tegra 4 is what will drive the graphics-rich Android games that will be Shield’s raison d’être and it will also make the PC gaming part of the device possible.

Shield will be able to connect to your computer over a home wireless network, access the games on it, and allow you to play said games on the handheld. No latency issues and no worries about compatibility. That’s because the Nvidia (Kepler) graphics card is doing all the hard work and processing plus encoding the video and streaming it to Shield. All the Tegra 4 chip has to do is decode the video, which is high quality. Even in a crowded wireless environment like CES the game played smoothly. Playing a PC game on a handheld device is pretty sweet, and the controller is just as fast as when playing the games actually on the device.

The display is large enough that we were able to see fine details in games but not so large that it makes the handheld unwieldy to use. Shield is bigger overall than the Nintendo 3DS and the PS Vita thanks to the console controls. That doesn’t take it out of the portable league and may even prove that consumers don’t care as much about having something small and slim if it delivers the gaming experience they want. It’s a good size right now and we hope the final product isn’t any bigger.

Shield runs on Android (Jelly Bean) and isn’t limited to gaming. Anything you can do on any other Android tablet you can do on Shield, including watching movies or updating a social network. The lack of keyboard and the placement of the display may make it awkward to type, so most users will probably limit text-heavy activities. Still, as a media player, the Shield will surely please. Audio quality is quite good with booming volume.

An Nvidia rep told us that the company will work with developers to map the handheld’s controls to games ahead of launch. With games ported from consoles there may not be any need. Titles found in the Tegra Zone store should work with Shield straight away.

The company isn’t talking about pricing yet, though they do expect to release the device in the second quarter.

Overall, Project Shield is one of the most impressive gaming devices we saw at this year’s CES, which is why it ended up on our Best Of CES 2013: Gaming list. Having it in our hands just made us want it even more. The comfortable grip, the rich graphics, the versatility, and the power make for sweet gadget we can’t wait to play with more.

The gorgeous Surface Phone concept isn’t rooted in any sort of reality, but this concept video does a great job of showing the world exactly how terrific Microsoft’s smartphone could be.

Rumors of a Microsoft-made Surface Phone have been swirling around since the Surface tablet was first mentioned so many months ago. The desire for the Surface brand to extend to smartphones even spawned a few concept renderings showing what the phone may look like if it ever saw the light of day. The whispers have died down since then as people have moved on from the disappointment brought on by the Surface RT and begun looking forward to the upcoming Surface Pro. But that didn’t stop Tech Radar from bringing the concept to life in a mock promo video.

The design appropriately draws from the strengths of Microsoft’s tablets, incorporating the popular, angled edges and mag casing. The body is extremely svelte and streamlined, sticking to simplicity rather than buying into tacky embellishments. A full USB 3.0 port is situated at the top of the device with a 12MP camera and ultra-bright flash around back. All of this is faced by a 5-inch, 1280×720 Super AMOLED+ screen with 326ppi. The USB 3.0 port is enough to have us clicking the preorder button and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

It’s the integrated kickstand and mini Touch Cover that make this design particularly drool-worthy. Much like the larger Surface tablet, the concept smartphone has a thin kickstand that props it up at the ideal angle for typing. The Touch Cover looks extremely similar to the full-sized version, but some extraneous buttons were removed due to size constraints. Regardless, it holds onto the magnetic attachment and would no doubt offer the same pleasing keyboard experience.

Seeing the concept phone rendered in three dimensions on video really proves the viability of a smartphone built by Microsoft. A USB 3.0 slot on a phone would be incredibly convenient, as well as having the ability to do some serious typing if the situation demanded it. Obviously this would never replace a full-fledged laptop or even a Surface tablet, but it is certainly an attractive prospect. The chances of this being made any time soon are slim though. No doubt the company is busy pouring billions of dollars into advertising and hawking the Surface tablets at every opportunity. Plus, it’s a safe bet to say a Surface Phone would make Windows Phone enthusiasts, HTC and Nokia, very disappointed. The last thing Microsoft needs is to have its biggest allies turn their full attention to Android. Practicality aside, however, we secretly hope Microsoft is watching and smiling.

As CES 2013 draws to a close, it’s clear many of the biggest names in mobile technology have chosen to wait for February’s Mobile World Congress to reveal their latest products. But why this year?

Exhibitors at International CES have started packing up their elaborate stands and heading back home, having announced all their new hardware to the gathered press and public. We’ve seen everything from smart watches to smart washing machines, but strangely for a technology show, smartphones were in short supply.

Of the big names attending the show, only Sony took the covers off a truly exciting, internationally available new smartphone – the Xperia Z – while up and comers Huawei and ZTE debuted devices set for release in China. Lenovo then did the same with the slick K900 and Alcatel kept its release schedule secret, leaving it down to U.S. networks to take up the slack, but all we really got was the low-end Samsung Ativ Odyssey for Verizon and the Pantech Discover for AT&T. Hardly the most inspiring collection.

Has CES always been like this though, and we’re just too focused on smartphones not to recognize a decent haul of new devices when we see one? By looking back at last year and the year before, it’s painfully obvious how disappointing this year’s show was for mobile fans. In 2012, AT&T gave us the Titan II and the Lumia 900 – two impressive, big screen phones with 4G LTE connectivity – while Sony had its Xperia Ion and Xperia S on display. Huawei was on hand with the Ascend P1 and the super-slim Ascend P1 S, the former of which – amazingly – has only just reached U.S. shores.

There was also a glut of 4G hardware being demonstrated, including the LG Spectrum and the Motorola Droid Maxx for Verizon, the Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G for MetroPCS, the LG Viper for Sprint, and the Samsung Exhilarate for AT&T. And it was also a smartphone packed CES in 2011. The list is as long as it is exciting, including hardware headed for the major U.S. networks such as the Motorola Atrix 4G and Droid Bionic, the HTC Thunderbolt, the LG Revolution and the HTC Inspire, plus global devices including the LG Optimus Black and the Sony Xperia Arc. Add in quirky phones like the Dell Venue Pro and budget phones from Acer and Huawei, and you’ve got a show filled with phones you actually had a chance of buying, regardless of where you lived.

New MWC venue for 2013

So where were all the phones this year? It’s not as if the industry is dying out, far from it, but it does appear CES was shunned in favor of Mobile World Congress, soon to be held in Barcelona, Spain. MWC is the largest mobile trade show in the world, hosts at least 1,500 exhibitors and last year attracted 67,000 visitors, up by 11-percent over 2011. But why have manufacturers suddenly decided to hold back until the show? One reason could be MWC’s new-for-2013 venue.

Mobile World Congress has shifted to Fira Gran Via, where a venue twice the size of the old one awaits. This has given exhibitors an extra 24,000 square meters of space to play with, complete with improved access and services. While MWC was never short on big announcements, the smaller space and awkward facilities may have encouraged manufacturers to split them between it and CES. This year though, the need may have disappeared.

It’s not just speculation that some of the biggest names in mobile technology have saved themselves for MWC. LG came right out and said it during its CES press conference, while Asus has given several interviews saying the Barcelona event is going to be “Huge” for them. Samsung even said it was going to concentrate on Mobile World Congress before CES started.

Samsung could also partly be to blame for the lack of multiple, big mobile releases at CES, as its dedicated launch of the Galaxy S3 last year – a play it obviously took from Apple – was such a success, it may have encouraged others to try the same tactic. They get more press attention and it most likely ends up costing a lot less too.

Fewer network branded phones announced

Also, it’s worth noting CES 2011 and 2012 were stacked with U.S. only, network branded smartphones. This year, as we’ve already seen, there were only a handful. The biggest selling devices of the past year have been internationally recognized handsets, such as the Galaxy S3, the Lumia 920 and the iPhone 5, with the Nexus 4, HTC One X+, and many other mid-range phones running close behind. Are manufacturers becoming less inclined to indulge U.S. networks’ love of branded hardware that has a limited appeal, or are networks finding they don’t sell well enough to justify even making the deal, now that smartphones are more popular in general? Take away the LG Vipers and HTC Inspires, and CES events of old look far more like this year’s show.

Perhaps the final insult for CES on the mobile front this year is that Qualcomm, Nvidia, ST-Ericsson, Samsung, and Intel have potentially used it to set the stage for MWC, as each one has talked up its exciting new processors, but any new hardware featuring them was nowhere to be found. “Just you wait until next month,” they seemed to say. Thankfully, frustrated smartphone fanatics don’t have much longer to wait to find out what wonders Mobile World Congress will hold, as it begins on February 25, and it’s shaping up to be quite a show.

The Steadicam Smoothee is designed for smooth panning video shot with iPhone or GoPro devices, giving you the film-like quality without the expensive gear.

Tiffen’s Steadicam is popular with film and professional videographers. The $60,000 camera mounting is worth every penny to those who rely on it to prevent jerky movement when shooting while in motion. If you’ve ever wondered how they get those smooth panning shots when you watch a movie, it’s by using a Steadicam.

The Smoothee is a Steadicam for the rest of us. It provides the same concept –a gimbaled stable platform for an iPhone, fourth-gen iPod Touch, and GoPro Hero, Hero 2, and Hero/iP4 devices. At CES 2013, they showed off the latest version for the iPhone 5. When mounted in a Steadicam Smoothee, the shakes that are common with shooting video on an iPhone are replaced by a smooth, professional-looking shooting experience. This is especially important when shooting high-definition video.

The Smoothee is built around a sturdy and durable metal frame and features an interchangeable camera mount so that it can be used with different camera options. A belt clip – to further anchor the setup – is included with each Smoothee system. Mounting is easy, and the frame provides a comfortable hand gripe to aim and guide the video device.

The Smoothee retails for $169 and additional camera/device mounts are $24.95 each. It’s definitely far more affordable and accessible than the $60,000 unit Steadicam sells to the pros. Also available is a $49.95 travel bag.

In what is essentially just a re-release of the 2007 Xbox 360 game, Earth Defense Force 2017 slims itself down for release on the Vita.

Before we start weighing what’s good and what’s not about D3Publisher’s PlayStation Vita port, Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable, let’s remember the most important thing: this is a portable version of EDF 2017. Now, thanks to the magic of technology, you can pick up your Vita anytime, in any location, and fight to save Earth from invading giant alien insect and robot forces. Judging the game purely on this fact alone, it is an automatic winner.

Make no mistake: the fact that EDF 2017 is now playable on a portable screen doesn’t actually elevate the quality of the experience. This launch window Xbox 360-exclusive from 2007 hasn’t aged well at all. The graphics look like they could have been handled by a last-gen platform, the controls are simplified to the point of confusion, and anything that didn’t work well six years ago is still just as non-functional now as it always was. And yet, that’s sort of where EDF 2017‘s charm lies. As imperfect a game as it may be, it still manages to deliver in spades on its simple concept of “lay waste to entire cities as you shoot everything at giant bugs and robots.”

Let’s start with what’s new for the PS Vita release. Completing the game unlocks Pale Wing for use, a jetpack-equipped soldier that plays very differently from the landlocked protagonist in the vanilla game. There are some new weapons and levels, though in all honesty, with it being multiple years since EDF 2017 was last played on a Xbox 360, most will be hard-pressed to identify them. That said, the new bits amount to “more game,” and for an arcade-y shooter such as this one, more content is only a good thing.

The Vita release also adds some new multiplayer options, complementing local co-op with a new online mode that supports up to four players. In the time I spent reviewing EDF 2017 Portable, I was never able to find a Versus room to play in, but the co-op play is great. You can tackle any of the games levels on any difficulty with up to four players in the lobby. Restrictions can be set on weapon levels and health levels, and an assortment of similar filters can be applied when searching for a lobby to join. I ran into minimal connection issues when stepping into co-op matches. More importantly, EDF 2017 Portable really shines in co-op. Between the ability to revive teammates and the insanity of having four people firing massively destructive weapons in all directions, the carnage is a glory to behold.

Unfortunately, this is where the new additions stop. The port brings in some welcome bonuses, but none of the flaws of the 2007 game have been addressed here. Vehicles are the biggest offenders; while 2010′s EDF 2017 follow-up, Insect Armageddon, offered a revised approach to piloting machines of war — they became fun to play with! — no such tweaks were made to this Vita release. In truth, the controls weren’t touched at all in any meaningful way. Even when you’re just moving your standard footsoldier around the battlefield, there’s still the baffling absence of a reload button to cope with.

For some, elements such as this only add to EDF‘s charm. That’s the audience this game is aiming to capture. If you didn’t like EDF 2017 before then you’re probably not going to find much in Portable to enjoy. It’s the same game, for better and for worse. The biggest issue of all is, unfortunately, the price. Given the minimal number of enhancements made for this portable port, it’s something of a shock that Sony is asking $39.99 for an item that you could pay $15 to play on your Xbox 360. Yes, this is the first time EDF 2017 is available on another platform, and yes having the option of online co-op is a great thing, but this is one of those rare cases where it’s difficult to recommend the game to anyone at the price that’s been set for it.

Conclusion

All that said, it’s hard to deny the raw fact that EDF 2017 Portable is still just as stupidly fun as it’s always been, and that you can now play it on the go. Speaking as a longtime fan of the game and the series, I can say that price wouldn’t be a factor here for me. Series newcomers might want to sample the 360 game first before taking the plunge, but if you love EDF and you’ve been jonesing for some alien bug-squashing on the go, this PSN-exclusive Vita release will most definitely scratch that itch. 

(This game was reviewed on the PS Vita using a copy provided by the publisher.)