Remember the electric car with the ingenious hook of a reserve battery that can only be accessed in the case of an emergency by texting or calling the car’s manufacturer? Well, it appears that the project is having a bit of trouble getting off the ground in the US, though it shockingly doesn’t have anything to do with that flagship feature. As the story goes, upstart Bannon Automotive signed a deal with the car’s manufacturer, India-based Reva Electric Car Company, that gave it the exclusive license to manufacture and sell the car in the US, but Bannon is now alleging that Reva broke its agreements and says it’s been left with no choice but to take legal action. Ill-conceived feature aside, the stakes in the lawsuit are fairly high, as Bannon Automotive was actually formed with the sole intention of bringing the Reva electric car to the US, and it had hoped to bring as many as 250 jobs to Onondaga County, New York. Reva’s text-to-recharge electric car rolls to a standstill the US originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Dec 2010 00:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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There’s no need to tell you that a lot was (and still is, in a way) riding on Nokia’s N8 . It was said to be the outfit’s first dead-serious smartphone to rival the giants of today, and it was also Nokia’s first chance to truly reveal Symbian^3 to the world. We’ve already churned out our two pennies on the matter, but for those of you who bought in, now’s the time to get really real. Are you satisfied with where Nokia’s going with the N8? Do you seriously see a long and lively future when looking at Symbian^3? If someone (read: UPS) accidentally delivered the keys to the Finnish kingdom to you, how would you go about tweaking and / or reshaping the N8? Would you have selected a different operating system? Added a few more hardware buttons? Thrown in a different processor? Made it available on your carrier of choice? Let us know down in comments below, and keep it sensible — it’s Christmas Eve and all. How would you change Nokia’s N8? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The O!Play HD2 may be the first media device to support USB 3.0 , but we’re guessing that hasn’t exactly inspired too many of you to run out and buy the things — assuming you can actually find one for sale. Maybe a slimmer, shaplier form factor would do the trick. That’s the new O!Play Mini, a much more petite entry into the series that makes do with a single USB 2.0 connector along with an SD/MMC/MS/XD card reader up front. Around back are optical audio and an HDMI 1.3 connector, through which it will pump 1080p video and up to 7.1 audio in Dolby Digital AC3, DTS 2.0+, even TrueHD and DTS-HD, plus a variety of other formats. There are also RCA outputs if you prefer your digital steam in audio. File format support looks pretty legendary, including all the usuals plus less commonly supported extensions like MKV, MTS, OGG, and FLAC, even RighTxT subtitles. No word on price or availability yet, but with the HD2 clocking in at $129.99 we wouldn’t be surprised to see this slotting in somewhere under $100. ASUS O!Play Mini player ditches the USB 3.0 but keeps the 1080p originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 20:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Remember those rumors earlier this week that T-Mobile was finally getting ready to launch a mobile hotspot or two? Seeing how Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have all done it, it certainly makes sense — especially with this newfangled 21Mbps HSPA+ network T-Mobile’s got going on — and sure enough, we’ve now got concrete evidence of a unit in the FCC’s database. The MF61 from Chinese manufacturer ZTE is pretty clearly labeled “T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot” inside… so yeah, there’s your smoking gun. Confidentiality prevents us from seeing the user’s manual or a photo of the thing, but from what little we can see, looks like we’ll end up with a rounded unit not unlike the variant of the Novatel MiFi on AT&T and a number of European carriers. Really, though, doesn’t matter what it looks like — as long as it fits in a pocket and blasts high-speed data to a handful of WiFi connected devices of our choosing, that’s all we need. T-Mobile 4G Mobile Hotspot shows up in FCC courtesy of ZTE originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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HTC had pegged “early next year” for the 7 Pro’s launch in Europe, and when you think about it, January is just about as “early” as you can get. O2′s boys and girls in Germany have thrown up a teaser page for the QWERTY-equipped Windows Phone 7 handset, saying it’s expected to be available next month — a promising sign, indeed. Granted, launch dates can always slip, but considering how desperately the world needs some more landscape QWERTY options for WP7, we’d bet it’s one of HTC’s top priorities to get this thing pushed. [Thanks, Jens] HTC 7 Pro shows up on O2 Germany’s site, promises January launch originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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The folks at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have lovingly referred to their latest contribution to the world of science as the “poor man’s X-FEL.” An X-FEL, or X-ray Free-electron Laser, is like a super strong video microscope that converts electrons to X-rays to observe high-speed molecular movement. TU/e’s super laser alternative depends solely on a very specific bunching of electrons to do the same thing, allowing for a much smaller (it fits on a tabletop), much cheaper setup. With an estimated cost of half a million euro, the laser is hardly cheap, but it’s far more affordable than the competition: Stanford ‘s X-FEL runs hundreds of millions of dollars, and measures a whole kilometer. TU/e researchers admit that their laser can’t do everything that an X-FEL can, but, hey, you get what you pay for. Up next for TU/e? In vitro pork products. Yummy. Dutch scientists develop half million euro, ‘affordable’ super laser originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Version 2.0 of the app already brought support for the new Apple TV and the iPad, but Apple’s has now just released another more minor update to its Remote app for iOS devices that adds another much-anticipated feature: support for AirPlay video streaming. What’s more, the app now also boasts the ability to access internet radio stations from iTunes on your computer, as well as the ability to control movies and TV shows on your computer that are rented from iTunes — not to mention the usual stability and performance improvements. As always, it’s also completely free — you know where to find it. Apple Remote app updated for AirPlay video streaming originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We’ve seen our fair share of budget tablets from the Augens , Cobys , and Viewsonics of the world over the last six months, but let’s not forget that before everyone and their mother jumped into the cheap-o Android tablet pool, Archos was already in the shallow end with its own sub-$200 tablets. But, while the company was first to market, products like the Archos 5 and 7 Home Tablet certainly weren’t anything to wait in line for — they both packed slow processors, resistive displays, and ran outdated versions of Google’s mobile OS. Whether it was the mediocre reviews or the competition coming up behind them, the French company knew it was time to step it up, and its Archos 70 and 101 attempt to right all those wrongs. The 7- and 10-inch tablet both have Android 2.2 , 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processors, and capacitive screens. Oh, and don’t forget the front-facing VGA cameras. With each ringing up at $299, has Archos finally mastered the art of the cheap tablet? Find out in our full review! Gallery: Archos 70 and 101 Internet Tablets Continue reading Archos 70 and 101 Internet Tablet review Archos 70 and 101 Internet Tablet review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Here’s a fine Christmas Eve present from Uncle Sam: the FCC has just released the full text of the net neutrality rules it passed earlier this week by a hotly-debated 3-2 vote. The rules are basically what we expected: the three basic rules require ISPs to be transparent about their network management practices, and further forbid them from blocking any lawful application or service or discriminating against different types of traffic. The biggest tweak comes in the language around paid prioritization, which would let some companies pay for selectively faster access to an ISP’s customers — the FCC is pretty clear that such arrangements will be heavily scrutinized and probably won’t pass muster. And then, of course, there’s wireless, which is subject only to the transparency and no-blocking rules; the FCC decided to take “measured steps” with mobile because it believes that is still too new and fluid. We’ll have a full breakdown later today, but hit the source and check out the full rules yourself — you’re going to be hearing a lot about them over the next few weeks. [Thanks, Phil ] FCC releases full net neutrality rules originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Apple applies for ‘logo antenna’ patent, hides your resonator behind the brand indicator
December 24, 2010 No Comment
Embedding an antenna in the external body of a phone? Maybe not such a good idea . Hiding it behind the logo sounds a little more practical, and that’s the idea Apple wrote up in a patent application dated June 17th, 2009, back before we knew antennas and gates could be so wickedly conjoined. That was also before we knew about the iPad , which seems to have one of these so-called “logo antennas” within it, as found when iFixit did their dirty thing . The same can be said for iMacs , which also have antennas peering through an apple-shaped hole to avoid any reception issues caused by an aluminum chassis. It looks to be a good solution, but not exactly a novel one. In roaming around the USPTO archives we found a similar 2003 patent from Dell also called “Logo Antenna,” the big difference being that while Apple’s logo forms a window for the antenna the logo in Dell’s patent actually is the antenna. Apple applies for ‘logo antenna’ patent, hides your resonator behind the brand indicator originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Dec 2010 09:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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