Navigon MobileNavigator finally hits American Androids, includes augmented reality POI view
October 27, 2010 No Comment
We got our first taste of Navigon ‘s MobileNavigator for Android way back at CES last January, and since then Googlephone users across Europe have been merrily navigating around using the thing. Finally, Americans get our chance, with Navigon announcing a North American release. This version includes maps of the good ‘ol US of A, downloaded to the storage card (1.5GB worth) to enable full offline navigation, though you’ll need a connection to get traffic updates. There’s an improved Reality View Pro mode, which shows “photo realistic 3D views” of street signs and, the cream of this frothy app, a new Reality Scanner mode. This Layar -like view overlays nav and POI information over a real-time stream of the world from the phone’s camera, letting you spot that Stuckey’s from afar. The app hits the Android Market today for $39, but that’s one of those limited time deals. After two weeks it jumps up to $59, so don’t be slow with the clicking. Gallery: Navigon MobileNavigator for Android Continue reading Navigon MobileNavigator finally hits American Androids, includes augmented reality POI view Navigon MobileNavigator finally hits American Androids, includes augmented reality POI view originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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More from DigiTimes this morning and its chatty sources within NVIDIA and Taiwanese supply chains. First up is talk that ASUS’ 10-inch Eee Pad — presumably, the Android loving EP101TC said to cost less than $399 — will launch in March of 2011 with NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 taking care of the processing duties. DigiTimes ‘ sources also reminds us that Tegra 2 tablets are on the way from Dell , Samsung, MSI , and Toshiba in addition to smartphones from ASUS, Motorola, and LG. Good to know, but for as long as Tegra 2 has been discussed, we’ve yet to see the SoC ship inside anything worth getting too excited over. And don’t even mention the Boxee Box, they switched to Intel at the last minute, remember? Maybe Dell’s Looking Glass tablet will change all that when it launches any day now . ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC getting Tegra 2 treatment ahead of March launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Razer debuts Anansi MMO gaming keyboard, dares you to ever leave your basement
October 27, 2010 No Comment
And you thought you were set after procuring one of the many Naga mice on the market now. Think again. In a never-ending quest to milk the MMO market, Razer has just issued the planet’s first (or so it says) MMO gaming keyboard . The Anansi is a jet black board with a rather standard layout, but those seven thumb modifier keys are bound to enhance gameplay in some way or another. You’ll also get over 100 programmable Hyperesponse keys with on-the-fly macro recording, storage for up to 20 gaming profiles, five bonus gaming keys and 16 million color backlight illumination. Oh, and for those of you doubting Razer’s attention to detail, you can totally deactivate the Windows key while in “gaming mode.” Check it this December when it ships worldwide for $99.99 / €99.99. Gallery: Razer debuts Anansi MMO gaming keyboard Continue reading Razer debuts Anansi MMO gaming keyboard, dares you to ever leave your basement Razer debuts Anansi MMO gaming keyboard, dares you to ever leave your basement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well, well, look at what we’ve got here. It’s the promised OnLive MicroConsole TV adapter courtesy of the FCC. The MicroConsole itself, isn’t a surprise — the little box that replaces the PC or Mac and brings the streaming game service to the living room TV courtesy of an HDMI-out jack was first announced back in March with plans for a late 2010 retail delivery. What is a surprise is the discovery of an FCC test report for ZigBee 802.15.4 in addition to Bluetooth. The ZigBee mesh networking standard is most often targeted at RF applications requiring a low data rate like lighting, sensor, and power socket control nodes in home automation networks. So why the hell would OnLive be dabbling in ZigBee? OnLive’s site says that the MicroConsole uses Bluetooth to connect multiple wireless headsets. So maybe ZigBee is for the four wireless controllers (something we’ve seen before ) the MicroConsole supports. We can’t say for sure, but a quick search of ZigBee’s product certification database turns up an ETRI VoZ (Voice over ZigBee) prototype capable of facilitating a ZigBee headset, microphone, and speaker. Perhaps OnLive is just doing some future proofing here or maybe they’ve got plans for some ZigBee enhanced gameplay. Unfortunately, the FCC test unit is listed as a pre-production “Pre-DV Sample” meaning it could still be awhile before the MicroConsole launches. FCC wireframe and MicroConsole renders pictured after the break. Continue reading OnLive MicroConsole TV Adapter clears FCC with ZigBee surprise OnLive MicroConsole TV Adapter clears FCC with ZigBee surprise originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …MacBook Air upgrade kit bumps capacity to 256GB, turns old module into USB 3.0 SSD
October 27, 2010 No Comment
Sure, the only remotely user-replaceable component on the 11.6-inch MacBook Air are those tiny Toshiba SSDs, but PhotoFast’s got what might be one of the most elegant upgrade solutions we’ve ever seen. The Air USB 3 Adapter gives you not only a brand-spanking-new 256GB module with a Sandforce SF-1200 controller, but a speedy USB 3.0 flash drive too — which smartly doubles as the mechanism by which you move your old files over, as you can just transfer everything through the USB port. Once you’re done swapping modules, the company says you’ll see a 30 percent speed boost over the original drive, with reported transfer rates of 250MB/s on both sequential reads and writes. Shame the Japanese company didn’t specify any sort of estimated release date or price. MacBook Air upgrade kit bumps capacity to 256GB, turns old module into USB 3.0 SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 04:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …DBM Energy’s electric Audi A2 completes record setting 372 mile drive on a single charge
October 27, 2010 No Comment
116 miles in an electric vehicle? No problem. But you’ll quite literally be pushing your new Nissan Leaf another 250 miles to achieve what’s being hailed as a world record in Germany. Little Lekker Mobil, a four-seat Audi A2 refitted with an experimental electric powerplant as part of a government sponsored project with Germany’s lekker Energie and DBM Energy, just completed a 372-mile (600-km) stretch of road between Munich and Berlin on a single charge , a journey that lasted around seven hours. Even with the heater running, the modified A2 with fully usable trunk arrived with spare electricity in the “tank.” The battery uses DBM Energy’s KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer Technology said to be 97 percent efficient and chargeable from virtually any socket — plug it into a high voltage DC source and it can be fully charged in just six minutes according to the car’s driver and battery inventor, Mirko Hannemann. While Hannemann wouldn’t be pinned down on pricing for the battery, the 27 year old did say that it would be more powerful and cheaper than conventional lithium ion batteries. He even went so far as to suggest that his company was ready to begin mass production of the batteries now — presumably aided by the large sacks of money he’ll be handed after pulling off the record breaking stunt. DBM Energy’s electric Audi A2 completes record setting 372 mile drive on a single charge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Actroid-F: the angel of death robot coming to a hospital near you (video)
October 27, 2010 No Comment
It’s been a few years since we checked in with Actroid , a bot we first saw way back in 2005 . What you’re looking at above is Actroid-F, Kokoro Co. Ltd. and ATR ‘s latest iteration of the creepy humanoid robot that can mime the operator’s facial expressions and head movements with unbelievable (but not quite human) accuracy. Her current job is to act as “as an observer in hospitals to gauge patient reactions.” We guess that’s one way to get around euthanasia laws. See what we mean in the video after the break. Continue reading Actroid-F: the angel of death robot coming to a hospital near you (video) Actroid-F: the angel of death robot coming to a hospital near you (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 02:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Garmin navigation to be an Android exclusive for ASUS, headed to Apple and RIM app stores
October 27, 2010 No Comment
Details of the Garmin-ASUS breakup are slowly being revealed. We now know that ASUS has obtained exclusive rights to license Garmin navigation and location based services on its Android smartphones with a Garmin navigation trademark slapped on the back — other Android handset makers need not apply. ASUS will go back to selling its own-brand handsets in January, including models equipped with 3D for gaming and connectivity with ASUS ebook readers and tablets, according to DigiTimes . For its part, Garmin’s official blog says that it will be expanding its mobile application handset development by offering navigation and other applications through “certain consumer application stores.” According to DigiTimes , that means Apple’s iTunes App Store and RIM’s App World. So, in other words, Garmin and ASUS are still friends but are now free to date anyone they want, you know, except for anyone in eachother’s families. How mature. Garmin navigation to be an Android exclusive for ASUS, headed to Apple and RIM app stores originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 01:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s hard to believe that what we’re looking at is real — but we assure you, the picture above is in fact the PlayStation Phone you’ve long been waiting for. As we reported back in August , the device you see is headed into the market soon, likely boasting Android 3.0 (aka Gingerbread ), along with a custom Sony Marketplace which will allow you to purchase and download games designed for the new platform. The device snapped up top (and in our gallery below) is sporting a 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 (a chip similar to the one found in the G2 , but 200MHz faster), 512MB of RAM, 1GB of ROM, and the screen is in the range of 3.7 to 4.1 inches. Looking almost identical to the mockup we hit you with this summer, the handset does indeed have a long touchpad in the center which is apparently multitouch, and you can see in the photos that it’s still bearing those familiar PlayStation shoulder buttons. For Sony buffs, you’ll be interested to know that there’s no Memory Stick slot here, but there is support for microSD cards. The particular model in these shots is still in prototyping mode. As such, the unit doesn’t have a custom skin (not even SE’s Timescape design seen on the Xperia devices), and is said to be rather buggy. We’re digging into more facts as we speak, but it’s likely that much of what we reported earlier is still accurate, and though the device could still be headed for a 2010 release, 2011 is looking much more realistic. Still, there’s a lot of time between now and the holidays… so keep your fingers crossed! Gallery: PlayStation Phone details The PlayStation Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 21:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The MacBook Air has never exactly been a simple product to review. Since the laptop’s launch back in the heady days of 2008, we’ve always considered it a niche, high-end product and much less a mainstream system. Originally , the wafer-thin (and somewhat underpowered) laptop sold for a painful starting price of $1,799, and had its fair share of problems. Well, we’ve come a long way from Apple’s original play, with two all-new models of the Air. The first is an update to the standard 13.3-inch model priced at a significantly cheaper $1,299, while the newest entrant to the MacBook family is a tiny 11.6-inch model that’s nearly the size of an iPad — and not wildly more expensive, starting at $999. Of course, over time the market for laptops of this type has gotten quite crowded, with a slew of ULV-based thin-and-lights that offer lots of options for lots of budgets. Do the new MacBook Airs have enough to take on a crowded market, or have they been bumped out of the game altogether? Read on for the full Engadget review to find out! Gallery: MacBook Air (13-inch) hands-on Gallery: MacBook Air (11.6-inch) Continue reading MacBook Air review (late 2010) MacBook Air review (late 2010) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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