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Saturday, September 3, 2011

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XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 03:33 PM PDT

XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)


XtremeMac showcases the Soma Stand, Soma Travel and more at IFA (video)
There were lots of cool Apple-centric products to been seen around XtremeMac's extremely orange booth at IFA this week, proving that there's still interesting things to be done in the world of iPhone / iPad / iPod docks. At the top of the list is the Soma Stand, a pyramid-shaped dock that folds up for portability....

Griffin announces 'Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer,' gives up on creative product n...

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 03:33 PM PDT

Griffin announces 'Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer,' gives up on creative product names


Griffin announces 'Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer,' gives up on creative product names
Multitasking business executives are going to love this. Whether you're taking notes on your tablet, pointing out graphs in a presentation or just signing reports, Griffin's new "Stylus + Pen + Laser Pointer'' should have you covered. As the name implies, it's a three-in-one input device containing a red laser pointer, an "omni-directional" capacitive stylus and a refillable ball point pen....

webOS global business unit split outlined in leaked HP documents

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 02:57 PM PDT

webOS global business unit split outlined in leaked HP documents


webOS global business unit split outlined in leaked HP documents
It's been just over two weeks since HP announced plans to discontinue production of its webOS devices, and speculation over the future of the platform is still going strong. Just this week, Samsung CEO Choi Gee Sung put to rest rumors of a webOS deal, and now two leaked missives from inside HP show plans to split the webOS global business unit in two....

Electric cab company hit with hundreds of tickets in Austin [w/video]

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 01:44 PM PDT

Electric cab company hit with hundreds of tickets in Austin [w/video]


Electric cab company hit with hundreds of tickets in Austin [w/video]
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle), USA A recent arrest has re-ignited a three-year battle between Electric Cab of Austin, TX and the City's Transportation Department, proving again that the legal status of low-speed electric vehicles is a gray area in a lot of places in the U.S. Last Sunday, a driver for Electric Cab of Austin was reportedly arrested for not having the proper permit to operate a...

TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 01:44 PM PDT

TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions


TomTom iOS app update invites iPads to the party, provides directions
Have you been navigating that cross-country trip via the recently updated TomTom iPhone app while carrying along an iPad on the excursion as well? Soon, you'll be able to find your way by slate alone, as the company has announced an iPad-optimized version of their GPS app. To make things even better, if you already have the download, you can grab it for your Apple tab for free this Fall....

AdMob To Stop Serving Ads To Mobile Web, Google Pushes Developers To Use AdSense

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 01:44 PM PDT

AdMob To Stop Serving Ads To Mobile Web, Google Pushes Developers To Use AdSense


AdMob To Stop Serving Ads To Mobile Web, Google Pushes Developers To Use AdSense
When Google bought mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in 2009, the company was clearly trying to capitalize on the growing mobile advertising market. Mobile advertising, both on apps and the mobile web, is a natural extension of Google's display and search ad business. Of course, as the integration has taken place over the last year, certain AdMob features have been axed because  they didn't fit with the overall strategy...

Pocketbook A10 hands-on (video)

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 12:30 PM PDT

Pocketbook A10 hands-on (video)


Pocketbook A10 hands-on (video)
PocketBook, primarily known for its e-readers, introduced the A 10 this week at IFA -- that's "A" for Android and "10" for 10-inches (well, 10.1 inches). The Android in this case is Gingerbread, nothing particularly exciting on that front, in a world that has largely moved on to Honeycomb in all its iterations, but at the very least, the company is doing some cool stuff on the design front in a...

North American Eagle project pumps out WiFi, takes aim at land speed records

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 11:16 AM PDT

North American Eagle project pumps out WiFi, takes aim at land speed records


North American Eagle project pumps out WiFi, takes aim at land speed records
Most folks would be content if their jet-powered vehicle did nothing but break land speed records, but not so with the team behind the North American Eagle project. They've gone and also stuffed some WiFi equipment inside the nose of the vehicle, which they hope will be able to transmit data back to an experimental mesh WiFi network set up around the dry lake bed while the vehicle is in the...

Galaxy Tab 7.7 disappears from IFA floor, not a trace left behind

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 10:02 AM PDT

Galaxy Tab 7.7 disappears from IFA floor, not a trace left behind


Galaxy Tab 7.7 disappears from IFA floor, not a trace left behind
Just two days after Samsung unveiled it's Honeycomb-sporting Galaxy Tab 7.7, the slate (along with all traces of its existence) has vanished from the IFA floor. All demo models have been yanked from Sammy's booth, branding has disappeared, and even the large poster touting the slate has been covered up....

FondTech unveils Formula E electric E-11

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 09:25 AM PDT

FondTech unveils Formula E electric E-11


FondTech unveils Formula E electric E-11
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Racing, Videos On Thursday, Italian aerodynamic consultancy firm FondTech revealed its electric, single-seat Formula E racer, the E-11. The car is the brainchild of ex-Ferrari Formula One team aerodynamicist Jean-Claude Migeot. FondTech says its battery-powered E-11 can match the performance of today's Formula Three vehicles over a 20-minute period on any circuit across the world....

Fujifilm X10 hands-on (video)

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 09:24 AM PDT

Fujifilm X10 hands-on (video)


Fujifilm X10 hands-on (video)
We really like Fujifilm's X100 -- it's a solidly-built camera, with an APS-C sensor, f/2 lens, and a rather unique hybrid optical / electronic viewfinder. But the X100 carries a $1,400 sticker price, and that 23mm lens -- as sharp as it may be -- is permanently fixed to the mount....

Sense 3.5 comes to the HTC Desire HD, unofficially

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 08:10 AM PDT

Sense 3.5 comes to the HTC Desire HD, unofficially


Sense 3.5 comes to the HTC Desire HD, unofficially
After seeing the screenshots and the video walkthrough of Sense 3.5, do you feel like you're missing out? Us too. Well, lucky folks in possession of HTC's Desire HD don't have to wait another minute, provided they're comfortable flashing custom ROMs. The crafty folks over at the XDA-Developers forums have taken a leaked version of the software from the upcoming Bliss and ported it over to the Desire HD....

S-Walker Electric Transporter hands-on (video)

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 07:32 AM PDT

S-Walker Electric Transporter hands-on (video)


S-Walker Electric Transporter hands-on (video)
In an IFA galaxy far far away lives the China Pavilion. And on the far side of the outer ring of the China Pavilion, buried amongst a plethora of steamers, curling irons, and television mounts, you may stumble upon the S-Walker -- though you're just as likely to miss it....

Lexus details 5th annual Eco Challenge

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 06:17 AM PDT

Lexus details 5th annual Eco Challenge


Lexus details 5th annual Eco Challenge
Filed under: Etc., Lexus, USAWhen you think lobster, do you also think Lexus? This fall, students are, once again, invited to participate in the annual Lexus Eco Challenge educational program and contest for a chance to win part of $500,000 in grants and scholarships. Over the past four years, Lexus has gotten more than 20,000 middle and high school students to take action intended to improve the environment....

Mobile Miscellany: week of August 29, 2011

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 06:17 AM PDT

Mobile Miscellany: week of August 29, 2011


Mobile Miscellany: week of August 29, 2011
This week, as always, was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of August 15, 2011: More rumors are circulating about the upcoming Sony Ericsson Nozumi, originally leaked two weeks ago....

Jeep Hears the 'Call of Duty' Again

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 05:39 AM PDT

Jeep Hears the 'Call of Duty' Again


Jeep Hears the 'Call of Duty' Again
If you're the sort of person who's into off-roading and first-person shooters, you'd better sit down, because Jeep is about to blow your mind.

Zotac unveils palm-sized ZBOX nano AD10, packing AMD Brazos APU

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 05:02 AM PDT

Zotac unveils palm-sized ZBOX nano AD10, packing AMD Brazos APU


Zotac unveils palm-sized ZBOX nano AD10, packing AMD Brazos APU
The box looks more like Zotac's VIA-powered mini-PC, but inside the AD10 falls right in line with rest of the AD series, packing an AMD E-350 APU alongside a Radeon HD 6310 chip. You're also looking at integrated 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and a pair of USB 3.0 ports -- not bad for something that's (just barely) palm-sized....

Princeton neuroscientists map your brain, play words with subjects

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 03:12 AM PDT

Princeton neuroscientists map your brain, play words with subjects


Princeton neuroscientists map your brain, play words with subjects
Don't speak. Princeton researchers know just what you're saying -- kind of. Alright, so the Ivy league team of neuroscientists, led by Prof. Matthew Botvinick, can't yet read your minds without the help of a functional MRI, but one day the group hopes to take your silent pauses and broadcast them for public consumption....

Doom now approved for sale in Germany, 17 years later

Posted: 03 Sep 2011 01:19 AM PDT

Doom now approved for sale in Germany, 17 years later


Doom now approved for sale in Germany, 17 years later
Doom may run on just about everything these days, but one place it hasn't been very accessible during the past 17 years -- regardless of the device -- is in Germany. That finally changed this week, however, with both Doom and Doom 2 receiving a USK-16 rating that allows them to be made available wherever video games are sold....

Google Voice for Honeycomb tablets now officially available, no sideloading nece...

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:51 PM PDT

Google Voice for Honeycomb tablets now officially available, no sideloading necessary


Google Voice for Honeycomb tablets now officially available, no sideloading necessary
Want in on some Honeycomb optimized Google Voice action without going through all the trouble of sideloading? Today's your lucky day; the boys of El Goog silently pushed out Google Voice 0.4.2.36 to the Android market this morning, adding native tablet support. You can snatch up this update right now directly from Google itself -- but we wouldn't blame you if you decided to sideload it anyway, just for old time's...

DirecTV's new HD UI revealed to testers, is prettier and faster than the current...

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 10:51 PM PDT

DirecTV's new HD UI revealed to testers, is prettier and faster than the current one


DirecTV's new HD UI revealed to testers, is prettier and faster than the current one
While DirecTV may tossing an old standard def look on the new DirecTiVo, beta testers in the Cutting Edge group got a treat tonight when their boxes downloaded a brand new user interface. It's the HD UI that was mentioned during the last earnings call, and brings not only fully 16x9 formatted graphics but also, according to testers, a serious performance boost to satellite receivers....

DirecTV adds AMC-HD next week, too bad Mad Men is still six months away

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 09:01 PM PDT

DirecTV adds AMC-HD next week, too bad Mad Men is still six months away


DirecTV adds AMC-HD next week, too bad Mad Men is still six months away
After slowing its pace of adding HD channels dramatically as of late, DirecTV has finally satisfied one of the loudest and longest running customer requests by announcing AMC-HD will come to its satellites starting September 9th. There's still a pretty long list of channels it's not offering yet, but if you're on contract and just want to enjoy some Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead and Mad Men (when it returns in...

Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 08:24 PM PDT

Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues


Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues
Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a qubit-based existence. The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip....

Audi announces A2 electric concept car, uses lasers to ensure safety of future h...

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:09 PM PDT

Audi announces A2 electric concept car, uses lasers to ensure safety of future humans


Audi announces A2 electric concept car, uses lasers to ensure safety of future humans
Lasers make everything better, including (but not limited to): microphones, kidneys and Audi's electric A2 concept. This newest flight of fancy uses a laser diode as the rear fog lamp, which projects a red triangle onto the road to let other drivers know you're there. The German car-maker has tricked out the rest of the EV's lighting system as well by implementing matrix beam technology using LEDs and microreflectors -- giving...

Archos 80 G9 and 101 G9 hands-on (video)

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 06:32 PM PDT

Archos 80 G9 and 101 G9 hands-on (video)


Archos 80 G9 and 101 G9 hands-on (video)
So, so many tablets this week at IFA. Archos's pair of Honeycomb slates may not have garnered the same sort of excitement as, say yesterday's Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 or Toshiba AT200, but there are a lot of interesting things going on with the 80 G9 and 101 G9. From an aesthetic standpoint, these are pretty nice looking devices (the 80 and 101 look largely the same, save for the difference...

A critical take on the Cadillac ELR Coupe

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:17 PM PDT

A critical take on the Cadillac ELR Coupe


A critical take on the Cadillac ELR Coupe
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Cadillac It's safe to say that Mark Modica at the National Legal and Policy Center is no fan of the Chevy Volt. He calls sales of the vehicle "horrible" and says that publications like Motor Trend have lost credibility in praising GM's plug-in hybrid. Now that the General has announced that the Volt will get an upscale cousin in the form of the Cadillac ELR Coupe, is it safe...

Visualized: an interactive timeline of the web

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:17 PM PDT

Visualized: an interactive timeline of the web


Visualized: an interactive timeline of the web
Ever wondered what the World Wide Web's illustrious history would look like if plotted in timeline form? Well, thanks to Google's "Evolution of the web," you won't have to. The delectable chart traces the evolution of HTML, the web technologies that came alongside it and the browsers that've held it all together -- all in a seriously meta HTML5 package....

Japan goes toe-to-toe with South Korea in quest for lithium-ion domination

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 04:39 PM PDT

Japan goes toe-to-toe with South Korea in quest for lithium-ion domination


Japan goes toe-to-toe with South Korea in quest for lithium-ion domination
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Japan Japan and Korea are boosting monies spent on research and development in an attempt to grab hold of the number one spot in the rapidly heating up lithium-ion battery segment. Japanese news outlet the Nikkei reports that Japan will increase its li-ion-related spending because South Korea is threatening to steal a slice of the industry....

Microsoft confirms Media Center will be in Windows 8

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 04:39 PM PDT

Microsoft confirms Media Center will be in Windows 8


Microsoft confirms Media Center will be in Windows 8
Windows Media Center fans can finally breathe again. After seemingly endless will they / won't they speculation Steven Sinofsky, the President of the Windows Division has confirmed in a blog post that Media Center will return for yet another go 'round in Windows 8. There's no word on any possible changes, only that the company has "work to do" concerning the quality and compatibility of add-ins....

PIGORASS quadruped robot baby steps past AIBO's grave (video)

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 04:02 PM PDT

PIGORASS quadruped robot baby steps past AIBO's grave (video)


PIGORASS quadruped robot baby steps past AIBO's grave (video)
Does the Uncanny Valley extend to re-creations of our four-legged friends? We'll find out soon enough if Yasunori Yamada and his University of Tokyo engineering team manage to get their PIGORASS quadruped bot beyond its first unsteady hops, and into a full-on gallop. Developed as a means of analyzing animals' musculoskeletal system for use in biologically-inspired robots, the team's cyborg critter gets its locomotion on via a combo of CPU-controlled pressure...