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Sunday, July 17, 2011

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Switched On: The bedeviled bezel

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 02:49 PM PDT

Switched On: The bedeviled bezel


Switched On: The bedeviled bezel
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. One of the few homages that the Palm Pre paid to the Palm Pilot was the gesture area, a separate part of the display face below the screen used for swipes just as the Pilot had a separate area devoted to entering Graffiti strokes....

Orphiro's electric motorcycle: like a Harley, just not obnoxiously loud

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 01:16 PM PDT

Orphiro's electric motorcycle: like a Harley, just not obnoxiously loud


Orphiro's electric motorcycle: like a Harley, just not obnoxiously loud
It's certainly not the first electric motorcycle to (quietly) crisscross our desks, but the self-titled Orphiro is surely one of the classiest. Designed over in Holland as a wide-body alternative to petrol-guzzling hawgs, this eco-friendly two-wheeler relies on Li-ion batteries and a motor that pushes a grand total of 72 volts....

L.A. Mayor: Freeway to Reopen Midday

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 12:14 PM PDT

L.A. Mayor: Freeway to Reopen Midday


L.A. Mayor: Freeway to Reopen Midday
A 10-mile stretch of one of the nation's busiest freeways will reopen beginning late Sunday morning because bridge work on the roadway was completed 16 hours ahead of schedule, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said.

iUsers frees your iPad of monogamy, enables multiple user profiles

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 11:43 AM PDT

iUsers frees your iPad of monogamy, enables multiple user profiles


iUsers frees your iPad of monogamy, enables multiple user profiles
Share an iPad? A new tweak is on its way to that other app store that should make your life a little easier: user profiles for iOS. The mod, dubbed iUsers, adds a user login button to the iPad's lock screen. The tweak segregates application data and preferences between users, meaning that user A's Angry Birds score won't muddle and mix with User B's perfect three-star rating....

Singbox SV-606's MP3 milkshake brings the portable audio love to your yard

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 10:41 AM PDT

Singbox SV-606's MP3 milkshake brings the portable audio love to your yard


Singbox SV-606's MP3 milkshake brings the portable audio love to your yard
See that line up of multi-colored, chromatic doodads above? Those are not, in fact, a host of shiny USB-powered kazoos. Le sigh, we know -- maybe next time. What are they, then? Try the super spiffy-looking Korean line of Singbox SV-606 speaker / MP3 players that pack an FM radio, microSD card reader and headphone jack into an 85mm by 35mm bullet shell-shaped design....

General Motors says 86 of 145 facilities will be landfill-free by end of 2011

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 10:10 AM PDT

General Motors says 86 of 145 facilities will be landfill-free by end of 2011


General Motors says 86 of 145 facilities will be landfill-free by end of 2011
Filed under: Etc., GM, USA GM employee crushes cardboard box prior to recycling General Motors' efforts to eliminate the shipment of waste to landfills is spreading to its non-manufacturing sites, ten of which are going to reuse, recycle or convert to energy every last bit of waste in the near future. The General has been greening its manufacturing facilities, getting 76 of them up to landfill-free status over the past decade....

Toshiba Thrive experiencing sleep / wake / reboot issues?

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 09:08 AM PDT

Toshiba Thrive experiencing sleep / wake / reboot issues?


Toshiba Thrive experiencing sleep / wake / reboot issues?
Toshiba's Android-powered Thrive just started shipping to end users during the past couple of weeks, but already we're seeing an alarming amount of bug reports crop up over at the outfit's own site. Specifically, legions of users are suggesting that their Thrive is having a whale of a time coming out of Sleep mode without a full, hard reboot, and some are even suggesting that it'll turn on by its lonesome...

ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro hits the FCC, feds don't mind its split personality

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 08:06 AM PDT

ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro hits the FCC, feds don't mind its split personality


ViewSonic ViewPad 10Pro hits the FCC, feds don't mind its split personality
Who ever said multiple personality disorder was a bad thing? Certainly not ViewSonic, whose Oak Trail powered ViewPad 10Pro -- which does the dual OS dance with Windows 7 and virtualized Android 2.2 -- just made its way through the FCC. The government's stamp of approval on its WiFi and AT&T-friendly WCDMA radios means it won't fry our brains, and it shouldn't be long before we see the 10Pro in stores....

Windows Phone 7 Connector now puts your Home Server in your hand

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 07:35 AM PDT

Windows Phone 7 Connector now puts your Home Server in your hand


Windows Phone 7 Connector now puts your Home Server in your hand
Ok, Windows Server Solutions Phone Connector doesn't exactly sound exciting but, if you're one of the few people out there rocking a Windows Home Server 2011 machine and a WP7 handset, you're probably gonna want to get this set up ASAP. The combination of server-side plug-in and phone app lets you remotely control your server -- triggering backups, managing users, and viewing alerts....

Apple leaks Cinema Display refresh, teases dual-monitor Thunderbolt setup?

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 06:33 AM PDT

Apple leaks Cinema Display refresh, teases dual-monitor Thunderbolt setup?


Apple leaks Cinema Display refresh, teases dual-monitor Thunderbolt setup?
The cat Apple is out of the bag, apparently. Thanks to a leak on its website, there's evidence that Cupertino's readying a formal introduction of Thunderbolt to more devices. Keen eyes from MacRumors have spotted products on the site now sporting OSX Lion backgrounds, notably, what appears to be T-bolt connected Cinema Displays....

Mid-term review of 2017-2025 CAFE goals a possibility

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 06:02 AM PDT

Mid-term review of 2017-2025 CAFE goals a possibility


Mid-term review of 2017-2025 CAFE goals a possibility
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, MPG, Legislation and Policy, USA The 2025 CAFE debate continues. This time 'round, White House officials say that, in response to unpredictable sales of plug-in vehicles, an interim review of the 2017 to 2025 fuel economy standards will likely be required. Though opposed by most environmental groups, this interim evaluation, according to Automotive News (sub....

Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 03:58 AM PDT

Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow


Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow
Back in May, we caught a glimpse of Acer's TravelMate 8481, rocking an extra thin bezel and 13 hours of battery life for the road-weary sojourner. At the time, Acer was touting a mid-June launch, but we've just received word that the Core i7-packing notebook won't make it into carry-ons until late August....

Vitamin Water bus-stop ad lets devices juice-up before the commute

Posted: 17 Jul 2011 12:52 AM PDT

Vitamin Water bus-stop ad lets devices juice-up before the commute


Vitamin Water bus-stop ad lets devices juice-up before the commute
Battery running low during the rush-hour commute? Glacéau's Vitamin Water Energy Bus Shelter by Crispin Porter & Bogusky wants to help you get charged while you're waiting to board. The new billboards feature a bottle of the vitamin / caffeine-packing drink, sporting a triple-USB port, which you can plug your devices into for some extra juice....

Aquapulse heart rate monitor finally ships, misses out on Michael Phelps fervor

Posted: 16 Jul 2011 09:46 PM PDT

Aquapulse heart rate monitor finally ships, misses out on Michael Phelps fervor


Aquapulse heart rate monitor finally ships, misses out on Michael Phelps fervor
It's not often that a product takes two full years to go from announced to shipped, but such is the case with Finis' Aquapulse. For those who weren't exactly paying attention in April of 2009, the aforementioned company busted out a head-mounted device that relies on an Infrared sensor to monitor heart rate via your earlobe....

Ask Engadget: best dumbphone on the market?

Posted: 16 Jul 2011 07:42 PM PDT

Ask Engadget: best dumbphone on the market?


Ask Engadget: best dumbphone on the market?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Jibben, who isn't exactly hip with shelling out each month for a tiered data plan. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "My upgrade on AT&T...

Alienware M14x review roundup: a lovely blend of poise and power

Posted: 16 Jul 2011 06:09 PM PDT

Alienware M14x review roundup: a lovely blend of poise and power


Alienware M14x review roundup: a lovely blend of poise and power
Know what happens when you split the difference between an M18x and an M11x? The M14x, of course! We managed a bit of hands-on time with Alienware's middleman back in April, and now the web at large has had a chance to spit their opinions on it. By and large, critics were overwhelmingly pleased with performance, and hardly anyone could find too many griping points....

US Army runs smartphone trial, could see 'limited deployment' later this year

Posted: 16 Jul 2011 04:36 PM PDT

US Army runs smartphone trial, could see 'limited deployment' later this year


US Army runs smartphone trial, could see 'limited deployment' later this year
Sure, the US Army could continue to develop expensive proprietary gadgets for use in the field, or they could make the switch to (relatively) inexpensive off-the-shelf smartphones. It's a change that's been considered for some time, and the Army is now at the tail end of a six-week trial of more than 300 Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone devices for military use....