Pandora founder and chief strategy officer Tim Westergren just rolled up to our CES trailer in the new Mini Cooper Countryman with Mini Connected, which features integration with Pandora’s iOS app when an IPhone is plugged in. Once you plug the phone in and switch to the app, Connected takes over and you navigate and control Pandora using the Mini’s rotary jog dial — BMW doesn’t want you to mess with the phone while driving, so the iPhone essentially serves as a 3G modem. The Connected interface is quite clean — it’s definitely more user-friendly than the BMW iDrive system from whence it sprang — and we were jamming along to 32Kbps Pandora streams in no time. That’s a little better than FM quality, and the Pandora app does a little buffering so any gaps or blips in signal are smoothed over. Phone calls are handled by the Mini’s Bluetooth system, so Pandora fades out when a call comes in, and fades back in when you hang up. It’s definitely slick — and Pandora is actually just the first Connected app to launch, with more iOS apps from Mini’s partners due to come in the future. Video and PR after the break. Gallery: Mini Cooper Countryman with Pandora integration drive-on Continue reading Mini Cooper Connected with Pandora drive-on Mini Cooper Connected with Pandora drive-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
How video games are changing the economy, the story behind the mythological toppling of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad, and the merits of being grossed out. On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies. The links below open in a new window. Newer ones are on top. How Videogames Are Changing the Economy This fall, the Chinese National University of Defense Technology announced that it had created the world’s fastest supercomputer, Tianhe-1A, which clocks in at 2.5 petaflops (or 2,500 trillion operations) per second. This is the shape of the world to come—but not in the way you might think. Playboy Mansion Is ‘Squalid Prison’ A key part of the Playboy image involves the Playboy Mansion, the enviable setting of star-studded parties. But some of Hefner’s so-called girlfriends have started talking about the inner workings of the place, revealing it to be more like a prison than a palace of love. How the Saddam Statue Toppling Sparked a ‘Victory Myth’ The New Yorker details how the toppling of the Saddam statue turned from a glimmer in the eye of a Marine sergeant to a media moment of outsized proportions. WHY BEING GROSSED OUT IS GOOD FOR YOU Maggots. Rotten meat. Pus-oozing sores. Grossed out yet? Probably. The emotion of disgust is universal, strong and easy to invoke. But there’s a good reason for instinctive disgust: it can keep us alive. Vatican Works to Change the Subject The Catholic Church appears to have concluded that the best way to keep everyone from talking about sex abuse is to change the subject—to demons. The Elements of Clunk A whole new strain of bad writing has come to the fore, not only in student work but also on the Internet, that unparalleled source for assessing the state of the language. Internet Gains on Television as Public’s Main News Source The internet is slowly closing in on television as Americans’ main source of national and international news. Man Busted For Building ‘Vibrator Bomb’ A Minnesota man is facing felony charges after police discovered that he had retrofitted a vibrator, turning the sex toy into a homemade explosive device. Related Entries January 3, 2011 When Conservatives Celebrate Terrorists November 2, 2010 Explosions Bring Fresh Devastation to Baghdad
Continue reading …
If you were unaware, we’re pretty psyched about the upcoming display tech from Mirasol . We were when we peeped it last year , and we’ve been eagerly awaiting this screen tech’s arrival ever since. Despite promises from PocketBook USA that we’d see an actual consumer product at this year’s convention (and even a leaked video ), when we hit the company up they met us with blank stares and promises that we’d see it at CeBit. All we were able to find was another Qualcomm reference device, which is still totally drool worthy and makes us more eager for it to hit shipping devices. The screen actually looks a bit improved this year, and we’re not seeing the same yellowing that we’ve noticed in the past. You don’t have to take our word for it though, we’ve got photo proof for you to feast your eyes on below. Gallery: Mirasol-equipped Qualcomm reference tablet hands-on Mirasol-equipped Qualcomm reference tablet hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Next-generation Audi MMI Touch dashboard with NVIDIA Tegra-power hands-on (video)
January 7, 2011 No Comment
Wishing you could get a little closer to that next-generation Audi MMI Touch interface we saw yesterday, the one we’re expecting to debut on the A3? Well, you can’t — unless you’re at CES , anyway, in which case you can find it chilling out in the NVIDIA booth waiting for you to go play with it. We did, getting a feel for all the lovely things that Audi is doing with the power of its Tegra chipset. It has decidedly limited functionality at this point, but it’s certainly enough to give you an idea of what dashboards in 2012 are going to look like, which is way closer to Gran Turismo 5 than we’d have imagined, like a fly-around tire pressure display with a real-time 3D view of the car. Check out the video below and see for yourself. Gallery: Next-generation Audi MMI with Tegra hands-on Continue reading Next-generation Audi MMI Touch dashboard with NVIDIA Tegra-power hands-on (video) Next-generation Audi MMI Touch dashboard with NVIDIA Tegra-power hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
And on the fifth day, the Homeless Radio Guy got his own Kraft commercial. We hope some of the proceeds go to his heroic ex-wife . [ PopEater ] Read more posts by Amanda Dobbins Filed Under: clickables , commercials , homeless radio guy , ted williams , tv Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Vulture Discovery Date : 07/01/2011 20:17 Number of articles : 8
Continue reading …
The latest “Star Wars” massively multiplayer online role-playing game, “The Old Republic,” allows you to play as a Sith and travel to Hoth in your own spaceship. AP’s weekly Video Game Video offers a preview of the game, due later this year. (Jan. 7)
Continue reading …
A fire at a North Carolina marina damaged more than two-dozen boats and injured three people. Fire officials say the fire broke out early Friday burning about 100 feet of a pier. Firefighters worked for about five hours to control the blaze. (Jan. 7)
Continue reading …
We’ve recently had the chance to get closer than ever with the Model S , taking off the covers from a rolling prototype and gazing longingly at the fingerprints on its giant, Tegra-powered 17-inch central display inside. Now Tesla is showing what else is inside — inside the sheet metal, though. Tesla and its VP of Vehicle Engineering, Peter Rawlinson, have taken the time to release three videos showing the construction and development of the car, giving us a tantalizing view of the frame. Looking at the above picture the amount of cross-bracing on the front structure is impressive, resulting in what should be a very twist-averse chassis that loves being slung through the twisties. What remains to be seen, however, is how well it will hustle the weight of its battery pack around. We’re just going to wait for a test drive to find out. Continue reading Tesla shows us what the Model S looks like on the inside (video) Tesla shows us what the Model S looks like on the inside (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
WiFi Direct, for those not paying attention in class, is a communications protocol for allowing devices with wireless radios to talk to one another and share files without the need for an intermediary WiFi access point between them. Basically, it’s like blasting out an ad hoc wireless network, one that permits simultaneous file transfers to up to eight other WiFi Direct-capable machines. LG kindly gave us a peek at its implementation in the Optimus Black , and while things are still pretty rough and (not) ready, we got a decent idea of how they’ll operate. Jump past the break to see for yourself. Gallery: LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills Continue reading LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills on video (hands-on) LG Optimus Black shows off its WiFi Direct skills on video (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …
Microsoft offered a brief glimpse of its revised Surface earlier this week at the Ballmer keynote, but now we’ve had a chance to check the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface (as its officially termed) for ourselves. The “2.0 experience” firmware is early and a bit buggy right now (especially with finger input), but there’s plenty of time fix that up before its launch later this year. The hardware itself is much thinner, with a 4-inch profile that can now be placed vertically against the wall (although we suggest using the stylish legs when possible). The 40-inch 1920 x 1080 gorilla glass display was crisp as all out, but since we could get close and scrutinize, you’ll definitely notice the pixels. The first demo we got to see is also probably the most impressive, wherein a paper with “I can see” written on it is scanned and read very clearly (a dev monitor was hooked up to show what Surface could “see”). Meanwhile, we couldn’t help but touch every point to watch the ripple effect emanate from our fingers. Apps are arranged in a row that you can sift through or rotate 180 degrees for someone facing opposite. We kept accidentally opening apps when we tried to scroll through, which is annoying but again, we were reminded it’s early firmware. Some of the apps we have seen before with the original Surface — some changes are required to make compatible, but we’re told it’s a fairly smooth transition process. Some highlights from what we saw: Bing , which for now only does image search (maps and local to come). The screen right now is a bit too sensitive and would detect sleeves as much as it would our fingers (you can see typos galore in the gallery). Images are scattered about a new results widget, and you can move around a bit from there or pull out individual ones to rotate and scan. A Red Bull with a printed code on the bottom that launches on-screen prompts for videos that you can smoothly rotate and scale on the fly, and a RBC Royal Bank that’ll make you feel really guilty about that cup of coffee from this morning. Oldies like Social Stream, Garibaldi Panorama, and Galactic Alliance. Another plus for the SUR40? It’s cheaper than its predecessor — but at $7,600, it’s still not ready for consumer market. We’ve got a ton of pics below and video after the break! Gallery: Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface hands-on Continue reading Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface hands-on with video! (update) Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface hands-on with video! (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …