Senate denies Navy’s missile-destroying laser funding, puts the kibosh on annoying Dr. Evil impressions
June 19, 2011 No Comment
Leave it to the Senate to crush the military’s fragile dreams. All the Navy ever really wanted was a giant ship-based laser that could be used to shoot down missiles. Despite some record breaking stats , however, the latest defense authorization bill handed down from the Senate Armed Services Committee throws a giant congressional wet blanket on the free-electron laser . The project, it seems, has simply proven too expensive — among other things, the laser’s researchers haven’t found the ideal method for powering the weapon from a ship. According to the current timeline, the project was not likely to have been completed before 2020, and as such the Navy’s request for further funding was, somewhat ironically, ultimately shot down. Senate denies Navy’s missile-destroying laser funding, puts the kibosh on annoying Dr. Evil impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Senate denies Navy’s missile-destroying laser funding, puts the kibosh on annoying Dr. Evil impressions
June 19, 2011 No CommentLeave it to the Senate to crush the military’s fragile dreams. All the Navy ever really wanted was a giant ship-based laser that could be used to shoot down missiles. Despite some record breaking stats , however, the latest defense authorization bill handed down from the Senate Armed Services Committee throws a giant congressional wet blanket on the free-electron laser . The project, it seems, has simply proven too expensive — among other things, the laser’s researchers haven’t found the ideal method for powering the weapon from a ship. According to the current timeline, the project was not likely to have been completed before 2020, and as such the Navy’s request for further funding was, somewhat ironically, ultimately shot down. Senate denies Navy’s missile-destroying laser funding, puts the kibosh on annoying Dr. Evil impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Commodore USA begins shipping replica C64s next week, fulfilling your beige breadbox dreams (video)
June 19, 2011 No Comment
If you’re like us, you’ve probably been holding your breath in anticipation since Commodore USA announced its replica of the famous C64. It promised a keyboard PC that duplicated the original’s retro-beige finish, with an Atom CPU and an NVIDIA Ion graphics card under the hood. But despite numerous announcements, and even after a cross-promotion with Tron: Legacy , they’ve yet to ship any products. The latest word from the company has pre-orders shipping next week, in five different varieties, from a barebones chassis and card reader to the C64x Ultimate – an $895 machine that includes 1TB hard drive and a Blu-ray player. If you haven’t been teased enough over the past year of delays, hit the video after the break for more preview images. Continue reading Commodore USA begins shipping replica C64s next week, fulfilling your beige breadbox dreams (video) Commodore USA begins shipping replica C64s next week, fulfilling your beige breadbox dreams (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The WebOS nuts at PreCentral have received an anonymous tip-off that HP’s imminent slate won’t be able to edit Office docs out of the box. As much as we’d like to dismiss this as a retaliatory rumor put out by BlackBerry, it emits an unfortunate whiff of truth. While HP has previously made a big deal of the TouchPad’s inclusion of the Quickoffice app, it has only said it’s “working with Quickoffice” to include document editing, and it has never demoed editing in action. The company has recently been trying to boost its app count , but perhaps it should have put more effort into securing core functionality instead. A glimmer of hope, though: the same tip-off also suggested that at least some editing capabilities will be introduced “via a downloadable update in Q3 2011″. Hey, what’s the rush? HP TouchPad rumored to lack document editing at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Not only do American military satellites have to put up with the constant threat of ultrasonic space droppings , now they must also suffer the prying lenses of a couple of Frenchmen. Thierry Legault and Emmanuel Rietsch have spent the past two years turning consumer-grade components into a system that can keep up with the zippy and supposedly secret movements of craft like the X-37B space plane and the NROL-49 low-Earth orbit spy sat. Hit the source link and you’ll see videos of the International Space Station, which they also managed to capture with steady-ish focus as it hurtled through space-time. Looks like nothing will thwart these guys, except maybe nano-satellites . Spy satellites become reluctant space celebs, get their own paparazzi originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 07:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour personal GPS takes you home, shows you how it got you there
June 19, 2011 No Comment
We’ve seen our fair share of uncomplicated (and under-featured ) GPS units, but the Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour throws in just enough tricks to make our inner techno-mountain-man salivate. The D-Tour does away with onboard maps and turn-by-turn directions for five simple waypoints and a digital compass. Lose your way? Just follow the arrow back to the campsite. When you get home, you can dump your hiking data into Bushnell’s map application, which will show you exactly where you’ve been, how far you traveled, and how fast you trekked. Its also a built in digital compass, clock, thermometer, and altimeter . Not too shabby, but a bit steep at $120, considering you’ll still need to provide your own maps. Hit the break for a video of the doodad’s track recording and mapping software. Continue reading Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour personal GPS takes you home, shows you how it got you there Bushnell BackTrack D-Tour personal GPS takes you home, shows you how it got you there originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 04:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Well, it looks like Google’s got the online rumor mill churning with its latest trademark application. Back on June 7th, El Goog filed a USPTO application for the name Photovine, sending sparks flying down the, er, grapevine about a possible photo-sharing program. The application cites a service dedicated to the “transmission of visual images and data by telecommunications networks, wireless communication networks, the Internet, information services networks and data networks.” Unsurprisingly, it looks like the internet giant’s also picked up the corresponding domain name. So is Google getting ready to add photo storage to its suite of cloud services ? Or is it looking to up its social media cred ? And where does Picasa fit into all of this? One things for certain: we won’t be responsible for letting this round of speculation whither on the vine. Google trademarks Photovine, hints at new photo-sharing service originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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In what may be an interesting development for the future of Google TV , the folks at Mountain View have purchased SageTV . The HTPC software has been doing its media center thing on multiple platforms since 2002, and according to a note on its homepage the developers “believe our ideas will reach an even larger audience of users worldwide on many different products, platforms and services.” While there’s no word on exactly what Google has planned, SageTV has long included DVR and placeshifting features that the Google TV product lacks by itself. The bad news for current users is that the store links on SageTV’s page have suddenly stopped working, so hopefully you snagged the software already if you’re interested. If your main question is “What is SageTV?” check out a demo video created by user jaredduq that is embedded after the break. [Thanks, Jason, screenshot courtesy GeekTonic ] Continue reading SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV? SageTV HTPC software acquired by Google, next stop Google TV? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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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 Allen, who needs to cut the cord in the worst possible way. If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com . “I’m moving to a small studio and for some reason the cable connection is in an awkward place and I need a way to transmit HD quality video and audio no more than 20 feet away. What is the best wireless HDMI transmitter / receiver for this situation? Thanks!” Without a doubt, wireless HDMI solutions have evolved in a major way over the past few years. What was once a technology reserved for those with bundles of cash is now making its way downstream, but there’s still plenty of lag issues to deal with. So, here’s the question — have you stumbled upon one that’s actually worth its salt? Let us know in comments below! Ask Engadget: what’s the best wireless HDMI transmitter / receiver? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Beware, malware. The Windows AutoRun updates for Vista and XP SP3 that Microsoft released in February have so far proven successful in thwarting your file corrupting ways. Although Windows 7 was updated to disable AutoPlay within AutoRun for USB drives — freezing the ability for a virus to exploit it — the aforementioned versions had remained vulnerable up until right after January. Fast-forward to the period between February and May of this year, and the updates have reduced the number of incidents by 1.3 million compared to the three months prior for the supported Vista and XP builds. Amazingly, when stacked against May of last year, there was also a 68 percent decline in the amount of incidents reported across all builds of Windows using Microsoft’s Malicious Software Remove Tool. There’s another fancy graph after the break to help illustrate, and you’ll find two more along with a full breakdown by hitting the source link down under. Continue reading Microsoft to malware: your AutoRunning days on Windows are numbered Microsoft to malware: your AutoRunning days on Windows are numbered originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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