Planning to pay Verizon an extra $130 for an iPad + MiFi 2200 bundle ? Hold on a sec, because Best Buy’s planning to give away hotspots free of charge when you purchase Apple’s tablet. This advertisement, obtained by 9to5 Mac , does mention that you’ll need to shackle yourself to a carrier for two years to qualify — unlike Verizon’s original arrangement — but in exchange you get a free Verizon FiveSpot, AT&T MiFi , or perhaps most excitingly, a WiMax-capable Sprint Overdrive . Fine print in the lower-right hand corner suggests that the promo will begin immediately and run through January 2nd. What better way to spend your leftover Hanukkah gelt than on gigabytes of wireless data? Best Buy offering free mobile hotspots with iPad purchase originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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We were expecting to see a slew of new Google TV -powered displays and boxes at CES in a couple of weeks, but now The New York Times is reporting the list of new product partners at the show may be much shorter than expected. The cause is reported to be Google’s last minute decision to ask for more time to work on its software first, resulting in no new hardware from LG, Sharp and Toshiba at the show, leaving only Samsung and VIZIO to show off their products. The always popular unnamed sources now peg timing for the next full fledged assault of Google TV hardware as after the company completes updates including the addition of the Android Market some time next year. Of course, Chrome OS and Honeycomb already provide plenty of examples of a disconnect between the good folks at Mountain View and their hardware partners, but with some already casting doubt on the platform’s potential, and the company’s ability to work out licensing deals with Hollywood, it’d be good to see more than last week’s partial facelift as a sign of what is to come. NYT: Next batch of Google TV devices delayed, pending software updates originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Inhabitat’s Week in Green: electric cars compared, molten salt solar, and a renewable Merry Christmas!
December 20, 2010 No Comment
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week’s most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us — it’s the Week in Green. Electric vehicles took the country by storm this week as both the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt were officially released to eager customers – if you’re still trying to decide between the two, check out our electric vehicle smackdown , which compares the two EVs based on their most important features. We also took a spin inside Honda’s electric Fit , and we showcased a futuristic home decked out with enough solar panels to completely charge an EV. The Sonex airplane also signaled bright horizons for electric aviation as it completed its maiden flight . Meanwhile California lit up the newswires by giving the green light for the state’s first molten salt solar energy project , and San Francisco announced a plan to generate 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. We also saw ten European countries forge a plan to build a massive renewable energy supergrid in the North Sea, and we showcased two hot examples of wearable teach that harness body heat – Fujitsu’s solar-thermal power band and a band-aid styled mp3 player . Finally, this week Inhabitat geared up for the holidays by showcasing 6 brands of dazzling LED christmas lights that save you energy and money, we showcased some innovative Christmas trees made with unusual materials , and we highlighted out favorite green gadget gifts for the holidays this year. And when all those presents are unwrapped we know exactly what to do with the aftermath – researchers have developed a way to recycle 100% of the material in plastic wrapping paper and artist Jason Rogenes wowed us with his incredible futuristic spaceships made from the styrofoam used to package electronics. Inhabitat’s Week in Green: electric cars compared, molten salt solar, and a renewable Merry Christmas! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Hacked your Kinect recently? Then you probably know something most regular Xbox 360 gamers don’t — namely, that the Kinect’s infrared camera is actually capable of higher resolution than the game console itself supports. Though Microsoft originally told us it ran at 320 x 240 , you’ll find both color and depth cameras display 640 x 480 images if you hook the peripheral up to a PC, and now an anonymous source tells Eurogamer that Microsoft wants to do the very same in the video game space. Reportedly, Redmond artificially limited the Kinect on console in order to leave room for other USB peripherals to run at the same time, but if the company can find a way around the limitation, it could issue a firmware update that could make the Kinect sensitive enough to detect individual finger motions and inevitably lead to gesture control . One of multiple ways Microsoft intends to make the world of Minority Report a reality, we’re sure. Microsoft seeking to quadruple Kinect accuracy? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …YikeBike foldable electric bike now available for the low, low price of $3,595 (video)
December 19, 2010 No Comment
The first time we saw the YikeBike we couldn’t help but think it was a little too stylistically shaped, a bit too svelte, and a lot too carbon fiber to actually exist in the real world as anything but a prototype. But now, over a year later, here we are looking at a little green “Add to cart” button on the company’s website. Yes, the 6 mile range, 15mph top speed foldable cycles are starting to roll out of the warehouse with an estimated ship date of just one week. The best news? The price is $3,595, far from cheap but about $2,000 less than they were originally estimated to cost and a downright bargain for something that offers this unique blend of bizarreness and fun. How much fun? Get a refresher course in the video after the break. Continue reading YikeBike foldable electric bike now available for the low, low price of $3,595 (video) YikeBike foldable electric bike now available for the low, low price of $3,595 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 19:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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With just five days left for Christmas shopping, Best Buy has enacted a most welcome plan to get you in the door — effective immediately, it’s abolished the infamous 15 percent restocking fee that the company traditionally charged for a wide variety of product returns. The Consumerist reports that computers, tablets, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS units, in-car video systems and audio equipment will no longer carry the fee, and that iPhones (which incurred a 10 percent restocking fee) are exempt as well. Only special orders will still carry the charge. What’s more, the company will allegedly refund any such fees charged since November 17th. Bravo! Best Buy nixes restocking fees originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 18:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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So, let’s say you’re out with a bud. Two buds. Just you three, hanging out, talking up memories of the days when you all kept in touch via the Kin Spot . And then, a monument. Any monument will do. You bust out a point and shoot, scrunch together, and snap a picture. Fast forward to next week, and your buds are still wondering when you’re ever going to offload those images and shoot ‘em over via email. You’ve not only let down the two most important people in your life, but you’ve failed yourself. Enter Samsung’s Ucim camera, which sports a full trio of USB ports meant to house three USB memory nubs. When the shutter snaps, it logs images to all three nubs, and when the party’s over, you and your two buds grab your respective nubs and part ways. Too bad it’s just a concept for now, but here’s hoping it becomes much more than that in the near future. Your buds hope so, too. Samsung Ucim digicam concept saves shots to three USB sticks originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 17:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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That slide above is no joke — it comes from a marketing webinar put on by two companies that supply Verizon, AT&T and Vodafone as clients, and it describes a system that identifies customer internet activity and charges a different rate for using Facebook than watching YouTube, while allowing access to Vodafone services for free. Yes, that’s basically the nightmare scenario for net neutrality advocates. The two companies behind the slide are Allot Communications and Openet, which sell subscriber-management tools to carriers around the world — tools that Allot’s director of marketing says can scan even encrypted packets to determine what service customers are using and charge accordingly. We’re not making this up — here’s the direct quote from the webinar: [We use] a number of different methods to accurately identify the application — methods like heuristic analysis, behavioral and historical analysis, deep packet inspection, and a number of other techniques. What’s key is that we have the best application identification available on the market, which means that even applications that are encrypted or use other methods to evade detection will be correctly identified and classified… We essentially feed this real-time information about traffic and application usage into the policy and charging system. Each subscriber has a particular service plan that they sign up for, and they’re as generic or as personalized as the operator wants. Yeah, that’s not how anyone actually wants the internet to work — except carriers, who’ve been saying increasingly insane things about charging even smartphone manufacturers for customer data usage lately. What’s more, it’s rumored that the FCC will cave to Verizon and AT&T and exempt wireless internet service from major parts of net neutrality regulation it’s expected to pass next week , so this nonsense could very well hit the US sooner rather than later. We’ll be keeping a close eye on things — we’ll let you know. Wireless carriers openly considering charging per service originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Kinect and haptics combine at the University of Washington to let you feel the future (video)
December 19, 2010 No Comment
Sure, looking at the future is great and all, and that’s what we feel like we’re doing with all these wonderful Kinect hacks we’ve been covering lately. But what about feeling the future, man? That’s what the kids at the University of Washington BioRobotics Laboratory are up to, taking the 3D images created by Microsoft’s gaming peripheral and combining that with a 3D haptic controller, what looks to be a SensAble Phantom to us. The result? A so-called “haptic handshake,” which looks even more uncomfortable than when Hank and Dean do their “Go Team Venture” routine. You can see both embedded after the break and decide for yourself. [Thanks, Jonas] Continue reading Kinect and haptics combine at the University of Washington to let you feel the future (video) Kinect and haptics combine at the University of Washington to let you feel the future (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 15:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Samsung nabs Tegra 2 for Galaxy Tab 2, Google makes Tegra the Honeycomb reference platform?
December 19, 2010 No Comment
It sounds like all of NVIDIA’s wrangling and cajoling finally paid off, if a couple of analysts are to be believed — both say the company’s dual-core Tegra 2 chipset is racking up wins in the tablet space. We’ve seen it seemingly raise the bar for smartphone silicon in the LG Star and tease us in slate after slate, but Citigroup’s Glen Yeung says that Samsung has “placed a sizeable order with Nvidia for Tegra 2 chips in the first half of 2011, geared for both tablets and smartphones,” and BMO Capital Markets analyst Ambrish Srivastava anticipates the next Galaxy Tab will be one of the devices that use it. If that sounds obvious, remember that Samsung was supposed to be producing a dual-core chip of its own . What could cause companies to embrace Tegra 2, if that’s indeed what’s happening? Any number of reasons, to be sure, but Glen Yeung also says that Google has made Tegra the reference design for Honeycomb , aka Android 3.0, and so Tegra 2 may sound like a fast track to victory in the budding tablet space. Here’s hoping it’s a good choice for consumers , too . Samsung nabs Tegra 2 for Galaxy Tab 2, Google makes Tegra the Honeycomb reference platform? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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