Here is a slew of recent product announcements from DGT Projects, MonRoi, Chessbase (Zap!Chess and Shredder 10), PebbleArt, Morfik, and more.

• DGT Projects announced its Easy Game Timer • 'A new level is set: The first game timer for everybody, for every game', with 'one-button game restart'. • We might be on the verge of a great bull market in chess clocks, which have long been used for Scrabble. An Introduction to Competitive Scrabble® • 'As far as consuming too much time, competitive Scrabble® is played with a chess clock to time the game. Each player has a total of 25 minutes in which to make all plays, so games usually last less than 45 minutes.' • Now they are being used to set time limits on lawyers. Time Limits Planned for Next Vioxx Trial • 'The wheels of justice will spin a little faster at the next Vioxx trial. A pair of chess clocks will see to that. It's the legal equivalent of a hurry-up offense. "Lawyers are like gas. We fill up whatever room we're provided."' [24 February 2006; abcnews.go.com]
  
  
• The MonRoi Personal Chess Manager has been receiving its fair share of publicity lately. If you want to know more about the technology, see Extreme constraints? Maybe an ASIC isn't the right move • 'Design decisions: Handheld chess recorder takes a different path to integration.' [20 March; EDN] • Sharp Solution Chosen For MonRoi Portable Chess Manager • 'Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas has confirmed that MonRoi has selected Sharp's System Solution for the MonRoi portable Chess Manager, a wireless device for professional tournament players.' [7 March; ARM.com]
  
  
• Chessbase announced two new chess playing software products: World Computer Chess Champion: Zap!Chess • 'Zap!Chess is the commercial version of Zappa, the 2005 World Computer Chess Champion.' [13 April]; • Shredder 10 now available • 'No other program has won as many titles as Shredder, the chess program written by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen of Germany. The latest version has been substantially improved and plays about 80 Elo points stronger than its predecessor.' [26 May]

  For a review of its flagship product, see Fritz 9 Play Chess Review • 'If you are planning to buy Fritz 9 with the hopes of learning how to play Chess, run far, far away and don’t look back. This is not where you want to begin. On the other hand, if you’re like the Jackie Chan of the chess world, you’ll probably find a whole lot of useful and entertaining tools and options.' [22 March; GamingHorizon.com]
  
  

• PebbleArt has created some unusual new sets: Natural Stone Chess Sets, Unique New Designs from PebbleArt • 'PebbleArt Inc., a company widely known for its imaginative designs using natural stone, has once more found a way to join the beauty of nature and art. Their newest product, the Geometric Stone Chess Set, takes the ideals of the company and applies them to a whole new line of products.' [23 March] • PebbleArt Crafts Unique Chess Set Out Of Light and Shadows • 'PebbleArt Inc. has revolutionized traditional game boards by designing a chess set that is carved out of light itself.' [28 April]
  
  
• Finally, it might be interesting only if you develop chess products, but a number of companies have demonstrated how their technologies can be used to build chess applications.
  
  
  • Morfik tests browser boundaries - builds Javascript chess app • 'Morfik is a next generation web development platform and their main product is called 'WebOS AppsBuilder'. How far can browser based apps be taken? It's described as a "a specialized IDE for building web-based applications".' • To see a functional product, go to chess.labs.morfik.com
    
    
  • Greystripe Launches AdWRAP - The First Mobile In-Game Advertising Network • 'Greystripe Inc. is proud to launch AdWRAP, the first mobile in-game advertising network in North America, and has signed deals with major advertisers looking to target this emerging market. The AdWRAP Network includes Chess'
    
    
  • Virtools PSP Engine Used In Konami Chess Title • 'Dassault Systèmes has announced the first PSP game built with Virtools solutions, the company's 3D game prototyping and production solutions division: Konami's Online Chess Kingdoms, developed by Leviathan Games.'
    
    
  • Got Game? These Companies Do • 'Visiware. France, makes games like chess available over digital set-top boxes'
    
    
  • Get FREE BT Chess and play chess over Bluetooth • 'Here comes a very nice freeware application for both Windows Mobile platforms (MS Smartphone and Pocket PC) that enables chess playing over Bluetooth!'
    
    

Product News : Previous reports. • Disclaimer.