Porsche has already tricked out its racing cars with kinetic energy recovery systems , and now it looks like its more mainstream 911 is getting the hybrid transmission treatment, too. Citing anonymous sources, our sister site Autoblog reports that the entire range of the next-gen coupe is going to use these systems, which don’t store energy in a battery, but instead capture kinetic energy during deceleration using a flywheel mechanism. Even without that sleuthing, a series of spy shots (including that one up there) reveal that the auto maker has expanded the wheelbase length by just enough so that it can accommodate a KERS between the gearbox and the engine. What does this mean for the 911? Well, these same sources say the entry-level Carrera is on track to surpass its rated 4.7-second 0 to 60 time and that it will generally be lighter, faster, more energy-efficient, and go farther on a gallon. Can’t afford a low-end Porsche? Well, you can still ogle the eye candy at the source link. Next-gen Porsche 911 getting hybrid transmission system? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Samsung’s Hercules was the entree, but there’s always room for dessert, and if you’d like to finish off your meal with juicy cellular rumors, This is my next has you covered. The publication now claims to have T-Mobile’s entire 2011 device roadmap in their possession, replete with alleged release dates for a stable of smartphones, hotspots and modems — some of which we’ve never heard of before — which should make for plenty of excitement in the months to come. Find all the highlights after the break. Continue reading T-Mobile 2011 roadmap leaks, lists loads of specific release dates? T-Mobile 2011 roadmap leaks, lists loads of specific release dates? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 20:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video)
May 17, 2011 No Comment
We’ve seen robots do some pretty heroic things in our time, but engineers from Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Cal Tech have now developed an entire fleet of autonomous rescue vehicles, capable of simultaneously mapping and exploring potentially dangerous buildings — without allowing their egos to get in the way. Each wheeled bot measures just one square foot in size, carries a video camera capable of identifying doorways, and uses an on-board laser scanner to analyze walls. Once gathered, these data are processed using a technique known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), which allows each bot to create maps of both familiar and unknown environments, while constantly recording and reporting its current location (independently of GPS). And, perhaps best of all, these rescue Roombas are pretty team – oriented . Georgia Tech professor Henrik Christensen explains: “There is no lead robot, yet each unit is capable of recruiting other units to make sure the entire area is explored. When the first robot comes to an intersection, it says to a second robot, ‘I’m going to go to the left if you go to the right.’” This egalitarian robot army is the spawn of a research initiative known as the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance Program, sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory. The ultimate goal is to shrink the bots down even further and to expand their capabilities. Engineers have already begun integrating infrared sensors into their design and are even developing small radar modules capable of seeing through walls . Roll past the break for a video of the vehicles in action, along with full PR. Continue reading Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video) Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video)
May 17, 2011 No CommentWe’ve seen robots do some pretty heroic things in our time, but engineers from Georgia Tech, the University of Pennsylvania and Cal Tech have now developed an entire fleet of autonomous rescue vehicles, capable of simultaneously mapping and exploring potentially dangerous buildings — without allowing their egos to get in the way. Each wheeled bot measures just one square foot in size, carries a video camera capable of identifying doorways, and uses an on-board laser scanner to analyze walls. Once gathered, these data are processed using a technique known as simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), which allows each bot to create maps of both familiar and unknown environments, while constantly recording and reporting its current location (independently of GPS). And, perhaps best of all, these rescue Roombas are pretty team – oriented . Georgia Tech professor Henrik Christensen explains: “There is no lead robot, yet each unit is capable of recruiting other units to make sure the entire area is explored. When the first robot comes to an intersection, it says to a second robot, ‘I’m going to go to the left if you go to the right.’” This egalitarian robot army is the spawn of a research initiative known as the Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance Program, sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory. The ultimate goal is to shrink the bots down even further and to expand their capabilities. Engineers have already begun integrating infrared sensors into their design and are even developing small radar modules capable of seeing through walls . Roll past the break for a video of the vehicles in action, along with full PR. Continue reading Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video) Rescue robots map and explore dangerous buildings, prove there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’ (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you’ll buy stuff
May 17, 2011 No Comment
Man, Best Buy really wants you to step foot in its stores. The company just announced a deal with Nintendo whereby 3DS owners will get free WiFi access in more than 1,000 of the company’s stores starting on June 7th — not quite Sam’s Club-style , but it’s a start. And with that connection, dubbed SpotPass, people will have access to special, downloadable content such as gaming extras and movie trailers. So come June, get ready to drive down to your local Best Buy — no pressure to buy anything once you’re inside, of course. Don’t have a 3DS? You can pick one up for a suggested retail price of $249.99. Don’t like purchasing things? Well, you’re no fun at all. Continue reading Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you’ll buy stuff Nintendo 3DS to get free WiFi access in Best Buy stores, Best Buy hopes you’ll buy stuff originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 18:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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A British journalist called Paul Kagame “despotic” and “deluded.” Rather than biting his tongue, Kagame fired off 14 angry tweets—and plenty of exclamation points. Some have suggested the feud is the first example of a head of state engaging with a journalist via Twitter. Kagame laid the groundwork for the spat on May 13, when
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With Tegra 2 hogging the spotlight, sometimes it’s easy to forget that NVIDIA is still primarily in the business of making GPUs for computers. Yet, here it is with the GeForce GTX 560, another graphics chip ready to be inserted into mid-range gaming rigs. This smaller sibling of the GTX 560 Ti is designed to plug right into a small price gap in the company’s lineup — right around the $200 mark. The 336 CUDA cores inside this second-gen Fermi card, predictably, perform slightly better than the GTX 460 and fall just short of the 560 Ti, but it does eke out a victory over similarly priced competition from AMD. The only thing that kept reviewers from wholeheartedly endorsing the various (and often overclocked) flavors of the 560 was the tiny difference in price between it and its relatives — tacking on the letters Ti and its 48 additional stream processors costs as little as $15 after a mail-in rebate. Check out the reviews below for all the benchmarks your little nerd heart can handle. And don’t miss the video of a GTX 560 plowing through Duke Nukem Forever , Alice: Madness Returns , and Dungeon Siege III at the more coverage link. Read – Tech Report Read – AnandTech Read – Tom’s Hardware Read – Guru 3D NVIDIA’s GTX 560 desktop GPU fills an exceedingly narrow pricing niche originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The Samsung Infuse 4G is a beautiful 4.5-inch tabletphone, but it’s not for the spec junkies of the world — a single-core processor and Android 2.2 just don’t impress such folk these days, regardless of actual performance . However, This is my next reports Samsung’s cooking up a handset that ticks all the boxes on the superphone list — a beast of a smartphone it’s tentatively calling the “Hercules.” Mind you, we’re still in rumor territory, but feast your inner speed demon on the possibility of these: a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8060 processor (the same as the HP TouchPad ), a 42Mbps HSDPA radio , 1GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage and Android 2.3, along with the same 4.5-inch 800 x 480 Super AMOLED Plus display as the aforementioned Infuse 4G. The same whispers say it’ll have a 8 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture, MHL support and NFC , and should play for T-Mobile… assuming the buyout doesn’t succeed. Our existing smartphones are already preparing to seethe with jealousy. Unannounced Samsung ‘Hercules’ headed to T-Mobile, bearing godlike specs? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There’s been a few smartphones exclusive to Japan as of late that we’d like to see available over here, but perhaps none more so than KDDI’s just-announced INFOBAR A01, which is set to hit the country in July. It runs Android 2.3, but you wouldn’t know it from the interface: a completely custom UI designed by Yugo Nakamura that follows some similar glanceable design principles to Windows Phone 7 , or what KDDI describes as a “single band of information.” The phone is no slouch hardware-wise either — it boasts a 3.7-inch qHD display (that’s about 300 ppi) , an 8 megapixel camera, a 1Seg TV tuner, and dual-mode GSM / CDMA connectivity (no word on the processor, unfortunately). As you can see, it also has some tile-like buttons — a common theme with with previous INFOBAR phones — and it’s available in your choice of four different color schemes, no less, along with some optional silicone and leather cases designed to match the phone (by the phone’s designer, Naoto Fukasawa, incidentally). Hit up the gallery below for a closer look, and head on past the break for a pair of videos showing the interface in action. Gallery: KDDI INFOBAR A01 Continue reading KDDI announces Android-based INFOBAR A01 smartphone with glanceable iida UI KDDI announces Android-based INFOBAR A01 smartphone with glanceable iida UI originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 15:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Acer Iconia Tab A500 and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer getting Android 3.1 updates in June
May 17, 2011 No Comment
Well, that was fast. Almost immediately after Google unveiled Android 3.1, Motorola was first out of the gate with an update, and now, not even a week later, Acer and ASUS are following suit with plans to freshen up their respective tablets with the newly minted software . To recap, 3.1′s benefits include resizeable widgets, support for USB peripherals, and new Movies and Books apps, among other perks. Acer confirmed to us that it aims to start selling the Iconia Tab A500 with 3.1 next month, as well as upgrade existing units running Android 3.0. ASUS, meanwhile, has been touting the impending update for the Eee Pad Transformer on its Italian Facebook page. To which we say, grazie ! Acer Iconia Tab A500 and ASUS Eee Pad Transformer getting Android 3.1 updates in June originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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