Audi's next-gen R8 MMI recognizes handwriting, probably increases your insurance premium

There's comes a time in every technology's life when the envelope gets pushed just for the sake of getting pushed. For Audi's already complex MMI, this is it. Right around this time last year, we were drooling quite profusely over the A8's next-generation Multi Media Interface (which is basically a snazzy name for an in-dash NAV system), but this year, we're wondering who exactly will take advantage of the R8's next system. Aside from getting a much needed UI makeover, Autobild is reporting that said platform will include support for handwriting recognition. So far as we can tell, you simply pencil in your next address with your greasy digits and tag the correct word that pops up there on the right. We're still waiting to hear why this is preferred over a decent voice recognition system, but hey, so long as James Bond approves, who are we to argue?

[Via German Car Blog]

Filed under: Transportation

Audi's next-gen R8 MMI recognizes handwriting, probably increases your insurance premium originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China Mobile's 7-inch Android slate gets rendered

We've nothing much to go on outside of a few good renders and a smattering of machine translated paragraphs, but it sure sounds as if China Mobile is entertaining the idea of bringing a 7-inch Android-based tablet to its airwaves. As the story goes, said slate would boast China's homegrown TD-SCDMA 3G connectivity, support for video calling, a full-fledged web browser and an OPhone operating system -- which is essentially a customized version of Android for the Chinese market. Sadly, no further information was given, leaving us to wonder what kind of innards are scheduled for implant and what kind of price tag / release date we're looking at. Oh, and those "call" and "end call" buttons are pretty darn evident, leading us to believe that China Mobile might actually expect you to use this as your primary mobile. Can you say... Sidetalkin'?

[Via Pocketables]

Continue reading China Mobile's 7-inch Android slate gets rendered

Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

China Mobile's 7-inch Android slate gets rendered originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Acer's Aspire Predator gaming rig gets even faster, stays just as orange

Just a few weeks too late for a Transformers 2 tie-in, Acer has announced a new revision of its Aspire G desktop, a.k.a. Predator. It shares the same case with the earlier edition that hit the US of A late last year, but naturally has some better specs this time 'round. The CPU is now one of Intel's new Core i7 950's running at 3.06GHz, up to 12GB of DDR3 RAM is on offer, while more permanent storage is offered by a 1TB HDD and a Blu-ray reader. A pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 graphics cards keep the pixels flowing over four DVI-D ports, and dual Gigabit Ethernet is on offer for those about to rock shotgun network connections. All that clad in a brilliant orange case that looks like it rolled off the Lamborghini production line, though at ¥259,800 ($2,700ish) it's a lot cheaper than the Murciélago LP 670-4 Superveloce you've been drooling over. No word on American availability, but since the last one took about four months to make it this way perhaps we'll see this one by year's end.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

Acer's Aspire Predator gaming rig gets even faster, stays just as orange originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AAXA ups the ante with SVGA P2 pico projector

While it's probably safe to say that the rush of pico projectors has slowed to a trickle, that's not stopping a few of the early entrants from dishing out new and improved models as the second wave builds. AAXA, the outfit responsible for serving up the pint-sized P1 back in February, is demonstrating exactly what a hasty refresh cycle looks like by dishing out the higher-res P2 just a few months later. The LCoS-based pico projector packs an SVGA (800 x 600) resolution, a 33 lumen LED light source, 1GB of onboard memory, a microSD card reader and even a built-in battery good for around 35 minutes of beaming (or in other terms, nearly two full episodes of Entourage). The device checks in at just 4.3- x 2.3- x 1-inches and sports a VGA input, 3.5mm headphone output and a mini USB socket to boot. Feel free to pre-order yours now for $349 -- or, you know, wait for a 720p model.

[Via PicoProjector-Info]

Filed under: Displays

AAXA ups the ante with SVGA P2 pico projector originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's not every day that you get challenged to a public "fisticuffs" over calling branding "impotent" - http://bit.ly/ueQJJ

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