Archive for September, 2007
« Previous EntriesSuzuki’s PIXY + SSC concept thrives in post-nuclear wastelands
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Filed under: Transportation
Let’s face it, we’ve only got what, maybe three or four hundred years left to enjoy the great outdoors before pollution levels eventually prohibit even stepping foot outside without our personal breathing apparatus. Well Suzuki thinks that it will be in this bleak and toxin-filled future that motorized single-passenger vehicles like the Segway will finally thrive, and is preparing to capture a piece of this potentially lucrative market with a concept transportation system known as PIXY + SSC. Scheduled to be unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, this dynamic duo consists of a rolling transporter (SSC, or Suzuki Shared Coach) which can carry up to two PIXY runabouts — fully-enclosed, three wheeled pods that will let you comfortably navigate a toxic or post-nuclear world. Suzuki plans to make these available “well before it becomes impossible to walk to our dealerships.” Click on for a high-res pic…
[Via Autoblog Green]
Continue reading Suzuki’s PIXY + SSC concept thrives in post-nuclear wastelands
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Newman MP4P E350 3.6-inch PMP
Sunday, September 30th, 2007Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
Hello Newman, your MP4P E350 video player is looking a little smudgy today, but but we’re willing overlook that for your 3.6-inch screen and touch controls. Well, not really, but maybe somebody in China will, ’cause it’s available there now, and that’s probably where it’s going to stay.
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
iPhone 1.1.1 to 1.0.2 downgrade instructions released!
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Filed under: Cellphones
Well would you look at that, instructions are now available for downgrading your iPhone from 1.1.1 to 1.0.2. It won’t downgrade your baseband, meaning so far you can’t re-unlock an iPhone that’s been 1.1.1-ified, but it’s still 1.0.2 in all its third-party application glory. The iPhone Dev Team folks are working on a way to downgrade the new firmware to let people unlock their phones again, but for now AT&T users sitting pretty, and non-AT&T folks can at least do the WiFi thing. There’s a video tutorial after the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - iPhone Dev Wiki instructions
Read - Hackint0sh thread where the magic happened
Continue reading iPhone 1.1.1 to 1.0.2 downgrade instructions released!
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Blog Tang A+ PMP won’t write your diary for you
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video
While the Blog Tang A+ seems to fall short in the blogging department, there’s plenty to make up for that. Like a 4.3-inch LCD, 30fps “high-def” video and up to 160GB of storage. Codec support is plentiful, including fan-faves like OGG in addition to the usual video and audio suspects, and there’s line-in recording as well as TV out. The 40GB version starts the bidding at 1,299 yuan ($173 US), with prices up to 2,199 yuan ($293) for 160GB.
[Via PMP Today]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
iPhone 1.1.1 “bug” unleashes music over Bluetooth
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wireless
The iPhone 1.1.1 update has a hidden little surprise for y’all: Bluetooth audio streaming is now available off of your iPhone for whatever you darn please, meaning you can finally listen to music from the phone wirelessly. Oddly enough, this “function” has been unleashed by a Visual Voicemail bug that leaves Bluetooth audio on even after you’ve left the Voicemail interface. Of course, it’s only mono audio, and the audio keeps playing out of your built-in speaker — if you plug in headphones to cut off the speaker you’ll lose Bluetooth streaming as well — but it’s nice to see Apple forking over some “should have been there in the first place” functionality accidentally to go along with all that stuff of the same ilk 1.1.1 took away from us.
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Sprint to ditch traditional contracts with Xohm, rely on subscriptions
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Filed under: Cellphones
We’ve yet to find an average joe (or jane) who just adores that two-year agreement they signed to receive a single subsidized device on day one, and while Sprint hasn’t been one to let folks off the hook early, it is trying a slightly different approach with Xohm. Reportedly, the carrier will be relying on “subscriptions,” which will enable customers to save more when paying for larger chunks of time, while not forcing them into anything long-term. On the same token, this also means that you’ll likely be paying full price for any hardware. Notably, the outfit’s CTO also made clear that Xohm “would not be backed by what the industry calls service-level agreements,” so don’t count on any kind of minimum bandwidth guarantee. As for pricing, the numbers are apparently still being worked, but it was suggested that the service would “probably be based on tiers.”
[Via TechDirt, image courtesy of BroadbandReports]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Seiko Epson, Murata team up on contactless quick charger
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Not even a week after startup WiPower boasted about its breakthrough in wireless power, Murata and Seiko Epson have announced plans to “jointly development a non-contact quick charging system.” Reportedly, the technology “leverages electromagnetic induction,” and both the charging stand and a given mobile device would be “respectively equipped with coils that generate power.” As for the production, it sounds like Seiko Epson will hone in on the “transmitting side, or primary side,” while Murata “will be involved in the production of the rechargeable Li-ion.” The overriding goal is to recharge a handset “in about 10 to 15 minutes in a non-contact manner,” which would purportedly push power transmission efficiency from current levels of 30- to 50-percent to nearly 70-percent. Oh, and we’ve already been assured that these “will not generate heat.”
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Hitachi’s new SSD withstands lots of overwrites
Friday, September 28th, 2007Filed under: Storage
Those who live for nothing more than to cram their SSD to the brim with useless data, only to mass delete the bulk of it, rinse, and repeat, we’ve found the perfect drive for you. Hitachi ULSI Systems Co., a subsidiary of Hitachi, has reportedly “developed a solid state disk on which data can be overwritten 100 times more than is possible on a conventional product of that type.” On the device, “data predicted to have a high overwrite frequency is stored on the DRAM and not sent to the flash memory, while information with low overwrite frequency is stored on the flash.” Consequently, “overwrite frequency on the flash portion” is substantially less than that of traditional alternatives. According to the company, it will start shipping out samples next month, but there’s no mention of a commercial launch date. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Electrobike Pi: the pricey hybrid electric bicycle
Friday, September 28th, 2007Filed under: Transportation
Hot on the heels of Matra’s MS1 comes yet another human / electric-powered hybrid bike, but Marcus Levison-Hays’ Electrobike Pi definitely rocks a more unorthodox design. This blindingly red transporter “combines the lightweight portability of a bicycle with speed and self-propulsion more akin to a motorcycle,” as it includes a 36-volt pack of NiMH batteries that provides “about one horsepower” to the 58-pound device. The unit can be fully charged “from any standard household outlet in 2.5 to 3 hours and can run for 25 to 30 miles,” and according to a report from the LA Times, the 20mph maximum stock speed can be increased to around 46mph “with a little after-market hot rodding.” Granted, the base price on this thing is said to be around $7,500, so it looks like the most of us will have to stick with the trusty Huffy ten-speed for the time being.
[Via AutoblogGreen]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Toyota shows off fuel cell car with 480-mile range
Friday, September 28th, 2007Filed under: Transportation
[Via Straightline, photo courtesy of Robert Gilhooly / EPA]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
