Nintendo has confirmed the existence of their rumored pedometer with the release of a Wii Fit meets Brain Training meets Nike+ game. Your Life Rhythm, as it is called, uses the little pod to record your physical performance, and it looks a bit weird to me.

But then, I don't have a clue of Japanese. [Kotaku]

The National Music Publishers Board didn't get their request to the Copyright Royalty Board for a larger cut of digital music sales, putting a definitive end to a miniature media crisis over the possible shutdown of iTunes. Apple threw a minor shitfit over the prospective hike last year, insinuating that they might not be able to continue business is it were "no longer able to do so profitably," (What business sense!) after which the British press decided that music was going to go away forever, or something. In any case, iTunes' profitability was never really at stake, Apple wasn't actually planning to shut down the largest music retailer in the US, and the press needs to calm down. [BBC]

Our hands-on with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic 'Tube' was pretty conclusive: the 5800 is a solid, capable but somewhat underwhelming music phone. For a first attempt at a full touch interface, though, the adapted S60 operating system is actually pretty good. Slashphone has unearthed a mountain of demo footage displaying the different functions of the OS, so you can make your own judgment. As with our hands-on video, you'll just have to try to ignore the damning, repeatedly unregistered touches that show up whenever the screen isn't pre-rendered.

The social networking tools are highly functional, but I'm not sure how eager people will be to build vanity feeds for their friends.

Excited about using your 5800 with Flickr, YouTube or Facebook? Well, Nokia's got a sort clone for you, I guess.

And finally, the most telling "feature": two styluses (styli?) — a guitar pick and a traditional pen. Manufactures should should really be required to call these thing "pokescreen phones." [Slashphone]

I guess the complicated combination of accelerometers and proximity sensors isn't trivial technology, but this one really should have been done by now: automatic zoom based on camera movement. In a new patent application, Sony Ericsson has detailed technology that judges your intention to zoom by measuring the camera's distance from your body, zooming in as it moves further away. The patent is just for cameraphones at the moment, but there's not reason that it couldn't (or shouldn't) crop up in the next generation of point and shoots as well. [UnwiredView via Engadget]

In the latest addition to the stream of leaked BlackBerry Storm videos little is left to mystery. We've seen much of the interface and we know most of the specs, but this commercial demonstrates just about every major feature of the phone is rapid succession. Confirming what we already know, the Storm looks like it'll match its major competitors feature for feature.

Also confirming what we already know, the interface elements look somewhat uneven — albeit functional — through the wide variety of programs on display here. That said, if the touch screen is responsive (and, counter to some reports, the keyboard is usable) then my stance is simple: "WANT." [CrackBerry -Thanks, Zach]

Looks like its Update Day at Apple—the company just released Apple TV 2.2, which users can access through the “update software” menu option in Settings. The software revamp now includes support for features introduced in iTunes 8.0, including video playlists, Genius playlists and HDTV show purchasing, and plugs a couple of security holes as well. How's it playing, kids? Any problems? [Macrumors]

Are you an ultra-rich tech enthusiast with a hankering to own a piece of aero-automobile history? Moller International is now offering its M200X, the first flying car of its kind, up for sale on that veritable auction house of luxury, eBay. The M200X is a 2-passenger Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) vehicle that has completed over 200 manned and unmanned flight demonstrations since 1989. Currently, bids are up to $18,888... but the reserve hasn't been met yet so you still have a chance to swoop in and snatch it up. [eBay via gizmag]

AMD has confirmed rumors that it is working on DirectX 11, announcing at CEATEC that it plans to release its first DirectX 11-compatible GPUs in 2009. The company also predicted an increase in general purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU) and a transition to a 40nm fabricating standard, which ought to give graphics chip performance rates a considerable boost. In layman terms: Things are about to get a lot bigger and a lot prettier. [Xbit Labs via Tweaktown]

AMD has confirmed rumors that it is working on DirectX 11, announcing at CEATEC that it plans to release its first DirectX 11-compatible GPUs in 2009. The company also predicted an increase in general purpose computing on GPUs (GPGPU) and a transition to a 40nm fabricating standard, which ought to give graphics chip performance rates a considerable boost. In layman terms: Things are about to get a lot bigger and a lot prettier. [Xbit Labs via Tweaktown]

As we move towards battery and hydrogen cell breakthroughs that could wean us off our addiction to oil, here's at least one engine design from yesteryear that ought to be examined a bit more. The free-piston engine, first invented in 1920, are cheap to build and roughly twice as efficient as current gas engines.

Unlike its conventional counterpart, free-piston engines don't have a mechanical connect between the piston and a crankshaft. Instead, magnets at the center of the piston's rod move past metal coils to create an electrical current. The engine's configuration allows it to combust fuel quicker, improving efficiency, emissions and easily optimized for different fuels.

The bad news: they're hard to control (variations in combustion cycles can cause poor performance) and they're incredibly loud (the quick explosions need to be muffled somehow). But automakers, such as GM and Volvo, are already investigating putting the engines in future vehicles. Lets hope their forays into this don't take as long as their exploration of fuel cell options. [Technology Review via Treehugger]