Delta E4 electric coupe goes out for a spin, carrying lucky humanoid (video)
March 31, 2011 No Comment
When was the last time you rode in an electric vehicle almost entirely constructed of carbon fiber and good for 250 miles on a charge? We’re laying odds on “never,” which is why we turned a shade of violent green when we saw Fully Charged host (and part-time Series 4000 Mechanoid) Robert Llewellyn set foot in just such a car. Delta Motorsport’s E4 Coupe, originally designed to win an Automotive X-Prize, is the vehicle we’re referring to here, and despite the fact that only one-third of its full projected power was available to coax Mr. Llewellyn firmly into his racing seat (four-wheel drive and regenerative braking are also TBD) and set his teeth on edge, we have to give the man some major props for documenting the experience for us on film. Watch it after the break. Continue reading Delta E4 electric coupe goes out for a spin, carrying lucky humanoid (video) Delta E4 electric coupe goes out for a spin, carrying lucky humanoid (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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When you only have WiFi to worry about, testing in the foam rooms of doom at the FCC gets a little bit easier. Or so we’d imagine, anyhow. Samsung’s WiFi-only PMP , the Galaxy Player 5 (aka YP-G70, aka Galaxy Player 70 ), just got rubber-stamped by our favorite federal body, passing with flying colors. While we weren’t treated to any teardown antics , we do have the lovely sketch above showing you where you can find the FCC logo. It’s the thing on the pointy end of the red arrow above, a label that hopefully you’ll be able to see in person very soon . [Thanks, James] Galaxy Player 5 stops by the FCC, only takes the easy tests originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Foxconn reports $218 million full-year net loss, exceeding analysts’ expectation
March 31, 2011 No Comment
Foxconn, a workforce of about 127,000 people behind many popular gadgets, posted a $218.3 million net loss for 2010 yesterday. While the company had previously predicted lower earnings amid suicide-related wage increases and welfare costs, the reported figure still exceeds analysts’ estimation of around $202 million, which also far outweighs the net income of $38.6 million. Foxconn puts the blame on higher consolidated income tax and increased competition, as well as “cost streamlining actions” — a reference to the ongoing relocation and expansion plans, which are also the outcome of the Chinese suicides — that took longer than expected and led to increased spending along with higher manufacturing overhead. Looking ahead, Foxconn said in 2011 it’ll “take decisive actions to conclude our capacity relocation, optimize our cost structure and return to profitability.” Of course, further losses could accelerate plans to increase prices , which could ultimately put everyone in a lose-lose situation if Foxconn can’t compete. Excerpts from the financial report can be found after the break. Continue reading Foxconn reports $218 million full-year net loss, exceeding analysts’ expectation Foxconn reports $218 million full-year net loss, exceeding analysts’ expectation originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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It’s no secret that Netflix has grand plans to expand its global footprint that now feeds media to some 20 million North American subscribers. Hell, the company was boasting of the ” significant dollars ” allocated to its 2011 international expansion plans just four months ago. While nothing’s official yet, we’ve unearthed a few tantalizing openings posted to the Netflix job site over the last few days that could point to an imminent launch. Notably, Netflix’s customer service call center in Hillsboro Oregon is gearing up to expand its scope of operations beyond North America. Two new job postings for a Training Supervisor and Quality Assurance Analyst both mention the need to prepare for “rapid” international expansion and “will support a specific country / region outside of North America.” The Training Supervisor is being hired specifically to educate customer service reps in preparation for that future international growth. Neflix is looking for fluency in English in addition to Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazilian and European), and Spanish (Latin American and European), leaving things pretty wide open with regard to the countries targeted for initial launch. We do know that Netflix had plans to launch in the UK way back in 2004 — plans that were ultimately scrapped in order to focus on its core US business (and later Canada). But if not the UK then we should at least expect to see Netflix target the European continent first if a statement attributed to CEO Reed Hastings from way back in January of 2010 still rings true: “the big market for Hollywood content (after the U.S.) is Europe…Third is Asia. Fourth is the rest of the world.” Can’t let Amazon have the market to itself now can we Reed? [Thanks, Chico] Netflix beefing up service center in preparation for global launch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Google tightening control of Android, insisting licensees abide by ‘non-fragmentation clauses’?
March 31, 2011 No Comment
A storm seems to be brewing over the realm of Android development. Bloomberg’s Businessweek spies have received word from “a dozen executives working at key companies in the Android ecosystem” that Google is actively working to gain control and final say over customizations of its popular mobile OS. That might not sound unreasonable, and indeed Google’s public position on the matter is that it’s seeking to stabilize the platform and ensure quality control, but it does mark a major shift from where Android started — an open source OS that was also open to manufacturers and carriers to customize as they wish. Not so anymore, we’re told, as apparently Mountain View is now demanding that content partnerships and OS tweaks get the blessing of Andy Rubin before proceeding. The alternative, of course, is to not be inside Google’s warm and fuzzy early access program, but then, as evidenced by the company recently withholding the Honeycomb source code , you end up far behind those among your competitors who do dance to Google’s pipe. Things have gotten so heated, in fact, that complaints have apparently been made to the US Department of Justice. They may have something to do with allegations of Google holding back Verizon handsets with Microsoft’s Bing on board, ostensibly in an effort to trip up its biggest search competitor. Another major dissatisfaction expressed by those working with Android code is that Google needs an advance preview of what is being done in order to give it the green light — which, as noted by a pair of sources familiar with Facebook’s Android customization efforts, isn’t sitting well with people at all. Google and Facebook are direct competitors in the online space and it’s easily apparent how much one stands to gain from knowing the other’s plans early. As to the non-fragmentation clauses in licenses, Andy Rubin has pointed out those have been there from the start, but it’s only now that Google is really seeking to use them to establish control. The future of Android, therefore, looks to be a little less open and a little more Googlish — for better or worse. As Nokia’s Stephen Elop puts it: “The premise of a true open software platform may be where Android started, but it’s not where Android is going.” Google tightening control of Android, insisting licensees abide by ‘non-fragmentation clauses’? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigns amid disagreement about company’s future direction
March 31, 2011 No Comment
Acer’s board and CEO don’t seem to have been getting along too brilliantly lately and now the situation’s come to a point with the resignation of one Mr. Gianfranco Lanci from the company’s helm. In a press release just distributed, Acer points out that Lanci held different views from the majority of board members about the “importance on scale, growth, customer value creation, brand position enhancement, and on resource allocation and methods of implementation.” Following a few months of discussions that failed to deliver a consensus, both parties have decided it’s best to part ways. For now, things continue as normal with Acer’s goal still being globalization of its product portfolio, whose centerpiece will remain the personal computer, according to Chairman JT Wang . He’ll be the man to take over for Lanci while Acer seeks out a replacement for the outspoken Italian. Continue reading Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigns amid disagreement about company’s future direction Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigns amid disagreement about company’s future direction originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 04:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Microsoft lodges antitrust complaint against Google with European Commission, ignores irony
March 31, 2011 No Comment
So Microsoft doesn’t like anticompetitive behavior , huh? Since when? Brad Smith, General Counsel for the Redmond rabblerousers, has posted a lengthy blog post outlining Microsoft’s concerns with “a pattern of actions that Google has taken to entrench its dominance” in online search and ads, which he claims is detrimental to European consumers. Funnily enough, half the post is about Google’s legal issues in the US, but we’ll set that aside for now. What this boils down to is that Microsoft is finally taking the gloves off — Google accused it of pushing other companies to do its dirty work — and is now adding its name to the list of objectors to Mountain View’s stranglehold on search in Europe. The European Commission is already taking a regulatory looksee at Google’s tactics, so this isn’t sparking off a new investigation, but it does add the glamor of two big names locking legal horns yet again. Hit the source link for Brad’s exposition of Google’s villainous wrongdoings. Microsoft lodges antitrust complaint against Google with European Commission, ignores irony originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Cancer’s not slowing its march to ruining as many lives as it possibly can, so it’s always pleasing to hear of any new developments that act as hurdles. The latest in the world of disease-prevention comes from Harvard University , where researches have created a dime-sized carbon nanotube forest (read: lots of nanotubes, like those shown above) that can be used to trap cancer cells when blood passes through. A few years back, Mehmet Toner, a biomedical engineering professor at Harvard, created a device similar to the nano-forest that was less effective because silicon was used instead of carbon tubes. Today, Toner has teamed up with Brian Wardle, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, who together have redesigned the original microfluid device to work eight times more efficiently than its predecessor. The carbon nanotubes make diagnosis a fair bit simpler , largely because of the antibodies attached to them that help trap cancer cells as they pass through — something that’s being tailored to work with HIV as well. Things are starting to look moderately promising for cancer-stricken individuals, as hospitals have already began using the original device to detect malignant cells and ultimately prevent them from spreading — here’s hoping it’s qualified for mass adoption sooner rather than later. Carbon nanotubes used to more easily detect cancer cells, HIV originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Not going to front: we’ve a soft spot in our heart for focused beams of light. We’ve seen ‘em rid the world of its space junk and set the pace of human hearts , and now, they’re taking a leading role in aural advancement. As improbable as it sounds, a research team from the University of Utah led by Richard Rabbitt has found that lasers may be able to give deaf people the ability to hear. Using a low-power infrared diode — similar to those in laser-pointers tormenting cats the world over — Professor Rabbitt found that exposing oyster toadfish hair cells (analogous to the cells found in humans’ inner ears) to infrared light caused them to release neurotransmitters and activate adjacent neurons. This could lead to laser-based ear implants able to stimulate focused areas of cells with thousands of sound wavelengths, as opposed to today’s electrode implants whose electrical current spreads through human tissue and limits the deliverable sonic range. Smaller, more efficient power supplies and light sources are needed before optical hearing aids become a reality, but if these newfangled lasers ever get their act together, we should be able to hear version two (and three) coming down the pike. Lasers let deaf ears pick up what the sonic world is putting down originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 02:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung mass producing 22-inch transparent LCD, your desktop monitor seethes with jealousy
March 30, 2011 No Comment
They said they would do it, and by golly it’s nearly here — Samsung just revealed that its assembly lines are starting to churn out see-thru computer screens that don’t require power-sucking backlights to function. Unfortunately, it looks like the amazing AMOLED variety is still on the drawing board, but ambient light-powered LCDs are on the way, with Samsung offering a 22-inch, 1680 x 1050 resolution panel with a 500:1 contrast ratio to begin with. Sammy suggests we’ll see it in HDMI and USB-compatible monitors and suspects it’ll be used by advertisers, corporations and higher education first — which suggests this display won’t come cheap — but we all know the true killer app will be a nice big frameless laptop screen . We’ll take two, please. PR after the break. Continue reading Samsung mass producing 22-inch transparent LCD, your desktop monitor seethes with jealousy Samsung mass producing 22-inch transparent LCD, your desktop monitor seethes with jealousy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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