Photo: Flickr , CC Only for Roadsters v. 2.0 and 2.5 Tesla Motors has just announced a voluntary recall of 439 electric Roadsters from the 2.0 and 2.5 series. This comes after a “single case in which a chafing power cable led to a short, smoke and possibly a fire.” The 1.5 models do not have the auxiliary power cable, and so they aren’t included in the recall. The cars that aren’t affected can be identified by their ID numbers which end in “500″ or lower…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Apple loses, challenges patent verdict surrounding Cover Flow and Time Machine
October 4, 2010 No Comment
Remember that one random company who sued Apple back in March of 2008 for ripping off its display interface patents? Turns out it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a hotbed for patent trolls who know that they stand a better-than-average chance of winning simply because of where their issues are being taken up. Sure enough, Cupertino’s stock of lawyers is today being forced to challenge a loss after a jury verdict led to Apple being ordered to pay “as much as $625.5 million to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed digitally.” Ouch. Naturally, Apple has asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis for an emergency stay, noting that there are issues on two of the three; furthermore, Apple has claimed that Mirror Worlds would be “triple dipping” if it were to collect $208.5 million on each patent. In related news, the Judge is also considering a separate Apple request (one filed prior to the verdict) to “rule the company doesn’t infringe two of the patents” — if granted, that would “strike the amount of damages attributed to those two patents.” In other words, this whole ordeal is far from over. We can’t say we’re thrilled at the thought of following the play-by-play here, but this could definitely put a mild dent in Apple’s monstrous $45.8 billion pile of cash and securities. Or as some would say, “a drop in the bucket.” Apple loses, challenges patent verdict surrounding Cover Flow and Time Machine originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Photo: Lotus The Right Tool for the Job Urban commuting should mostly be done using public transportation, bikes, and feet, but as long as there are cars in urban cores, they should probably look something like the ‘City Car’ (what an original name!) by Lotus. This concept, which was just unveiled at the Paris Motor Show, is kind of like a better-looking and more advanced Toyota iQ . Of course, the looks are subjective, but the drivetrain isn’t…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Ready for another Atom-powered, Windows 7 tablet ? Of course you are! Australia-based Tegatech has just announced the October 12 global launch of its 10.1-inch Tega v2. So, what is it exactly? With a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N455 CPU, 1GB of RAM and 16/32/64GB SSD options, it sounds like your run-of-the-mill Win 7 tablet, though it does have a capacitive touchscreen and accelerometer — facts that make it superior to the Nav 9 we just reviewed. It’ll also ship with Windows 7 Home Premium, but interestingly there are Android 1.6 drivers on the company’s site as well as a dual-boot manual. That, along with a dedicated Ctrl+Alt+Del button, certainly makes it a bit different than the others. No word on international pricing just yet, but those details ought to be flowing from the Land Down Under soon. Tegatech announces global launch of Tega v2, alerts us to its existence originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We only just got our hands on the Wave S8500 , but it looks like Samsung isn’t wasting any time in further expanding its Bada options — the company has just introduced the new and slightly improved Wave II. The biggest difference over the previous Wave, it seems, is a larger 3.7-inch WVGA SLCD screen, compared to a 3.3-inch AMOLED on its predecessor. Otherwise, you’ll get the same speedy 1GHz Hummingbird processor, the same LED flash-equipped 5-megapixel camera and, of course, the same Bada — although it does apparently add a new Swype-esque input method dubbed Trace. Look for this one to be available sometime in November (in Germany, at least) for a rather hefty €429, or about $590. [Thanks, Keith] Samsung announces Bada-powered Wave II, not quite a whole new Wave originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …2°C Temperature Rise Target ‘Not Safe’ – More Evidence From Geological Record
October 4, 2010 No Comment
photo: Steve Lav / Creative Commons A growing number of climate change scientists and activists have been saying, keeping global average temperature rise to 2°C is just not enough to avoid some pretty catastrophic changes in climate. Backing that up is a new study examining the geological record from the Last Interglacial, 125,000 years ago, publishe… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo via Fastily at en.wikipedia Scientists have been studying for years how to mass produce spider silk, a super strong wonder-material that we could use for countless purposes, if we could make enough of it. While some researchers work on devising the secret chemical mix for manufacturing the stuff, others are working on altering bugs that already produce something akin to spider silk — namely silkworms. By adding spider genes to silkworms, scientists were able to raise a handful that can produce silk nearly as strong … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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It’s hard not to love the crazy stuff happening at Microsoft Research , but it’s also hard to imagine when any of it is going to actually start changing the way we interact with our PCs. Surface was bested by SecondLight as the coolest tech we can’t buy, and now here comes another successor: LightSpace. This gets rid of the expensive table in favor of a (surely not cheap) series of projectors hanging from the ceiling paired to a 3D camera. The camera detects the relative position of things and instructs a projector to apply a Surface-like interface onto any flat surface. From there a user can literally grab any file they like and carry it over to another surface, where it will be displayed. It’s all demonstrated quite handily in the video below, and while the system does look a wee bit rough at the moment, the potential is surely there. Just like it was with SecondLight, and Surface, and Courier… Continue reading Microsoft LightSpace brings Surface (plus shadows) to any table (video) Microsoft LightSpace brings Surface (plus shadows) to any table (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Photo credit Richard Masoner via flickr and courtesy Creative Commons 2.0 Generic . This post is part of series written by TreeHugger contributors about trading in your car for a bike for trips that are two miles or less in distance. The series is sponsored by the Clif 2-Mile Challenge . Pedal assist electric bicycles, going no faster than about 15 kilometers per hour, are in my mind a savior of city women everywhere (even if they don’t know it yet). In China the … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Cover of Scenic Fernie Randal Macnair, the former mayor of Fernie, British Columbia, used the term “Amenity Migrant” to describe the people moving to the former depressed coal town in the Canadian Rockies. It is a term that, according to Ray Chipeniuk, started with American demographers in the late 1970s and early 80s, an era marked by a back-to-the-land movement in both the US and Canada. He is quoted in Northword: … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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