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Thursday, December 01, 2011

drag2share: Bridgestone's Puncture-Proof Tires Look Like They Were Made With a Spirograph [Tires]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5863826/bridgestone-puncture+proof-tires-were-possibly-designed-with-a-spirograph

Bridgestone's Puncture-Proof Tires Look Like They Were Made With a Spirograph Featuring an intricate resin spoke system, Bridgestone's new airless tire provides the same level of shock absorption as an inflated tire without you having to worry about monitoring air pressure or changing a flat ever again.

The idea is similar to Michelin's Tweel which first appeared back in 2006, and even the wheels used on the Lunar Rover that NASA developed during the Apollo era. But Bridgestone appears to have improved on both designs with the use of thermoplastic resin spokes that radiate out from the inner hub to the outer rim at a 45 degree angle. When combined with a second set of spokes on the opposite side that radiate out in the other direction, it results in added strength, stability, and flexibility.

Besides letting you drive through broken glass and even spike strips with impunity, Bridgestone's take on the airless tire is also made from recycled rubber and plastics, meaning that once the tread has become worn, you can just toss them in your recycling bin for pickup. Unfortunately, if ever put into production with widespread adoption, the days of the quaint tire swing hanging in your front yard are numbered. [Tech-On!]

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drag2share: PCIe 4.0 inches towards reality, hits 16 gigatransfers per second (that's a thing, right?)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/pcie-4-0-inches-towards-reality-hits-16-gigatransfers-per-secon/

PCIe 4.0

Don't get too excited just yet, but PCIe 4.0 is coming. PCI-SIG, the body that governs the standard, has announced the next evolution of the interface, which should start popping up in servers, desktops, laptops and even tablets around 2015. Sadly, details are pretty slim on the slot -- final specs aren't expected to be announced before 2014. All we know is that PCIe 4.0 will be able to perform 16 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), which tells us only slightly more than jack squat. It simply means that a PCIe 4.0 card will be capable of transferring 16 billion discrete chunks of data per second, twice that of PCIe 3.0. What that doesn't tell us though, is the size of those chunks. If they're the same size, 4.0 will provide double the current bit rate of 1 GB/s per-lane. If, for some reason, the channel width were halved there would be no speed increase -- but we seriously doubt that's the case. So, will we be looking at 32 GB/s PCIe 4.0 x16 GPUs in a few years? That is a definite maybe.

Continue reading PCIe 4.0 inches towards reality, hits 16 gigatransfers per second (that's a thing, right?)

PCIe 4.0 inches towards reality, hits 16 gigatransfers per second (that's a thing, right?) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PCWorld | | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: TED launches iPhone app, brings spread-worthy ideas to the small screen

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/ted-launches-iphone-app-brings-spread-worthy-ideas-to-the-small/

Looking for wisdom on your iPhone? Well, you're in luck, because TED's celebrated iOS app is now available on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app, much like its iPad-specific predecessor, allows users to access a wealth of TED Talks via streaming video or audio. The revamped tool also features a new bookmarks tab, where listeners can save talks for later listening, as well as the new TED Radio -- a station chock full of TED Talk audio streams, running all day. It's available as a free download now, so hit up the source link, and enjoy learning.

Continue reading TED launches iPhone app, brings spread-worthy ideas to the small screen

TED launches iPhone app, brings spread-worthy ideas to the small screen originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TED Blog | source

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iTunes | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: 3D-printed bone replacements coming soon to an orthopedic surgeon near you, courtesy of WSU (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/3d-printed-bone-replacements-coming-soon-to-an-orthopedic-surgeo/

3D printers are slowly, but surely working their way into all sorts of useful, everyday applications -- like the creation of chocolates, flutes and even Mario Kart turtle shell racers. Now, Washington State University engineers are unveiling a unique implementation of the tech that could aid in the regrowth of damaged or diseased bones. Utilizing a ceramic compound, the group's optimized ProMetal 3D printer builds dissolvable scaffolds coated with a plastic binding agent that serve as a blueprint for tissue growth. The team's already logged four long years fine tuning the process, having already achieved positive results testing on rats and rabbits, but it appears there's still a ways to go -- about 10 -12 years, according to the project's co-author Susmita Bose -- before orthopedic and dental surgeons can begin offering "printed" bone replacements. With a synthetic windpipe already under medical science's belt and now this, it's looking like we're just a few short decades away from that long sought after full body replacement. Right, Mr. Lagerfeld? Click on past the break for a brief look at this osteo-friendly machinery.

Continue reading 3D-printed bone replacements coming soon to an orthopedic surgeon near you, courtesy of WSU (video)

3D-printed bone replacements coming soon to an orthopedic surgeon near you, courtesy of WSU (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BBC |

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Washington State University | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime review

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime-review/

Is there any tablet that's hotter than the Transformer Prime right now? (Please, don't say the Kindle Fire.) For weeks we geeks, early adopters and people who love their tech toys have been awaiting this, and none too patiently. Make no mistake: this will be one of the slickest products we test this year and it isn't just because the original Transformer had such an inventive design. The Prime is the first device packing NVIDIA's hot-off-the-presses Tegra 3 SoC, making it the world's first quad-core tablet. This comes with promises of longer-than-ever runtime and blazing performance (five times faster than Tegra 2, to be exact), all wrapped in a package measuring just 8.3mm (0.33 inches) thick -- even skinnier than the iPad 2 or Galaxy Tab 10.1. Throw in specs like a Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass display, eight megapixel rear camera and a confirmed ICS update in the pipe and even we seen-it-all Engadget editors were drooling.

All of which means we dropped just everything when a 32GB Prime showed up on our doorstep earlier this week, and soon enough, you'll have your chance to nab one too. ASUS announced today that the WiFi-only models will be available through online sellers the week of December 19th, and in retail the week after. (No word yet on 3G versions for the US just yet.) It'll start at $499 for the 32GB model -- not bad considering five hundred bucks is the going rate for a high-end tablet with 16GB of storage. From there you can get a 64GB number for $599, while that signature keyboard dock will set you back a further $149. Worth it? Read on to find out.

Gallery: Transformer Prime review (hardware)

Continue reading ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime review

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Olive: the first feature film 'intentionally' shot on a smartphone (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/olive-the-first-feature-film-intentionally-shot-on-a-smartpho/

Sure, your smartphone might shoot HD, you might even have a dolly, but most of us know that 30 seconds of accidental filming inside a pocket and a blurry clip from the office party are about the best we can hope for. Not director Hooman Khalili. He made a feature length film using his trusty Nokia N8 and a custom lens, and now plans to show it in movie theaters. The film, called Olive, tells the story of a mute little girl, and the impact she has on the lives of those who meet her. Partly financed by the former Facebook CPO Chris Kelly, this Kickstarter story has the making of a movie itself. Should it raise the required $300k in funding, Khalili hopes it might even get a sniff by the Academy. That's assuming, of course, they've had a recent change of policy. For a sneak peak and a look at the making of, check the video after the break.

Continue reading Olive: the first feature film 'intentionally' shot on a smartphone (video)

Olive: the first feature film 'intentionally' shot on a smartphone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 02:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TechCrunch | source

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Kickstarter | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Galaxy Nexus OTA update quietly rolls out, addresses volume bug

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/galaxy-nexus-ota-update-quietly-rolls-out-addresses-volume-bug/

Google, as promised, has begun rolling out an OTA update for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, in response to a curious volume bug affecting many European users. According to Android Central, "several" Nexus users have reported receiving the update, bundled in a package that weighs a little less than 1MB. Early reports indicate that the refresh only addresses the volume issue, though it appears to be rolling out on a piecemeal basis. If you've already updated, let us know how it's treating you in the comments, below.

[Thanks, Shaun]

Galaxy Nexus OTA update quietly rolls out, addresses volume bug originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Android Central | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: StatCounter: Chrome leapfrogs Firefox for the first time, still trails Internet Explorer

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/statcounter-chrome-leapfrogs-firefox-for-the-first-time-still/

StatCounter has just released its latest global report on web browser usage, and it's something of a doozy. According to the analytics firm, Google Chrome overtook Mozilla Firefox for the first time this month, becoming the world's second most widely used browser. During November, Chrome accounted for about 25.7 percent of the global market, up from a measly 4.66 percent in 2009, and slightly higher than the 25.2 percent that Firefox pulled down this month. It still trails Internet Explorer, however, which still enjoys a healthy 40.6 percent market share globally, and a 50.7 percent share in the US. As the above graph clearly demonstrates, however, both IE and Firefox have seen notable declines in recent months, though the latter still has a slim lead over Chrome in the US market, with a 20.9 percent share, compared with Google's 17.3 percent cut. For more country-specific stats and crunchy numbers, check out the source link, below.

Continue reading StatCounter: Chrome leapfrogs Firefox for the first time, still trails Internet Explorer

StatCounter: Chrome leapfrogs Firefox for the first time, still trails Internet Explorer originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

TechCrunch | source

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StatCounter | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Acer riding shotgun on quad-core bandwagon, confirms Tegra 3 tablet coming next year

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/acer-riding-shotgun-on-quad-core-bandwagon-confirms-tegra-3-tab/

The web was rife with scuttlebutt yesterday that the artist formerly known as Kal-el would make an appearance in an Acer slate next year. In response, Acer's President Jim Wong has confirmed that the company will, indeed, be bringing a quad-core tablet to market in 2012. Unfortunately, Wong failed to mention any other details about Acer's next Android slate, though he did say the company plans to "remain very aggressive" on the tablet front. We're not sure what that means, but we do know we can't wait to see the results of that aggression -- who's up for a quad-core cage match between the unnamed Acer and a Transformer Prime?

Acer riding shotgun on quad-core bandwagon, confirms Tegra 3 tablet coming next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Verge | ! ; source

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T3 | Email this | Comments

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

drag2share: YaCy's gunning for Google with free-software bullets

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/yacys-gunning-for-google-with-free-software-bullets/

YaCy's a new free-software search engine aiming to wrest control of your private data back from the Googles and Bings of this world. There's no targeted advertising here, just a global network of peers all connected with the site's software. It currently has 600 peer operators servicing 130,000 queries monthly, with each user able to create individual search rankings so results improve over time. Project head Michael Christen said it's important no person decides what is listed, or in what order -- which makes us wonder what would happen if the Justin Bieber fan club decided to game the system. The software is available on GNU/Linux, Windows 7 and OS X and you can try a web-based tester (if you can get it working) at the source link below.

YaCy's gunning for Google with free-software bullets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

YaCy | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: British Library digitizes 300 years worth of newspaper archives, brings 65 million articles online

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/british-library-digitizes-300-years-worth-of-newspaper-archives/

Britain's historical news junkies are in for a treat today, because the British Library has just digitized a major chunk of its newspaper archive, comprised of four million pages spanning some 300 years of headlines. With today's launch of the British Newspaper Archive, users can search and browse through a staggering 65 million articles from a range of regional UK papers, encompassing the most newsworthy events from the past few centuries. Developed in coordination with online publisher Brightsolid, the archive also allows for remote article access and download, saving researchers a trip to the British Library's newspaper depository in North London. The initiative seems similar to some we've seen from the Library of Congress in recent years, though the archive isn't completely open to the public. Users can search the site for free, but will have to pay a subscription fee to download any article as a PDF. And, expansive as the selection may be, Brightsolid and the Library are aiming to digitize a full 40 million pages over the course of the next decade.

Nevertheless, today's arrival marks an important first step for the British Library and, in a larger sense, British history -- on both individual and collective levels. "For the first time people can search for their ancestors through the pages of our newspapers wherever they are in the world at any time," Ed King, head of the library's newspaper collection, told the Telegraph. "But what's really striking is how these pages take us straight back to scenes of murders, social deprivation and church meetings from hundreds of year ago, which we no longer think about as we haven't been able to easily access articles about them." Be sure to check out the archive at the source link below, and be prepared to lose your entire afternoon in the process.

British Library digitizes 300 years worth of newspaper archives, brings 65 million articles online originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Telegraph, NPR | source

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British Newspaper Archive | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Ricoh's modular GXR camera getting new 16 megapixel APS-C unit with 24-85mm lens

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/ricohs-modular-gxr-camera-getting-new-16-megapixel-aps-c-unit-w/

A new lens for your DSLR or Micro Four Thirds camera may make you feel like you have a whole new camera, but that's really the case with the interchangeable units for the Ricoh GXR. The latest addition to the modular camera's bag of tricks a new 16 megapixel unit with an APS-C sensor, which comes paired with a 24-85mm zoom lens (f3.5-5.5 aperture). Unfortunately, Ricoh isn't getting specific with a price a specific release date (saying only early 2012), but photographer Cristian Sorega reports on his blog that Ricoh will make an official announcement at CES in January, with a release set for January 20th.

Ricoh's modular GXR camera getting new 16 megapixel APS-C unit with 24-85mm lens originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 09:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Verge | source

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Ricoh, Cristian Sorega Photography | Email this | Comments

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Nissan sells more than 20,000 Leafs in first year; Fiat, Not So Much » go-Digital Blog on Digital Marketing http://bit.ly/u2xgkX

drag2share: SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/sandystation-interactive-sandbox-uses-kinect-to-make-topography/

If you're not really into using your Kinect experiment to launch your new startup or give your next presentation, let us offer another entertaining option. Two students at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen have created an interactive sandbox using Kinect, a projector, a computer and, of course, a box chock full of sand. The Xbox motion / depth detector is installed about two feet above the sand pit to measure each area that is carved out. Using a unique detection program, the topographical information is then transmitted to a data projector that renders an image in the sandpit -- the image being a color based on the height or depth of what has been created. The devs have built out a few different projections. Hills that are constructed by the user are assigned a shade of green based on height, while troughs are given blue hues according to depth. What's that? You built a hill and dug out the center? The projector sees that as a volcano, complete with spewing lava. If you're tired of SimCity and want to actually get your hands dirty, take a peak at the video just past the break.

[Thanks, Mark]

Continue reading SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video)

SandyStation interactive sandbox uses Kinect to make topography much more interesting (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 01:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

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Smart Mania (Czech) | Email this | Comments

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drag2share: Nissan sells more than 20,000 Leafs in first year, high-fives commence on Tokyo Motor Show floor

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/30/nissan-sells-more-than-20-000-leafs-in-first-year-high-fives-co/

You win this round, hippies! Only a few months after announcing that it sold 10,000 all-electric Leaf cars in international markets, Nissan stated at the Tokyo Motor Show today that the company has sold over 20,000 Leafs since the car went on sale in December of 2010. Of the 9,000 Leafs that have been sold to U.S. owners, over 60 percent went to homes in California, where owners no doubt admire their electric cars while enjoying their tasty organic kale and starfruit smoothies. The company also added that it expects to sell more than 10,000 Leafs in the U.S. by the end of 2011, which dovetails perfectly into their predictions. Given that the Japanese EV's prime competition has been plagued by concerns about its flammability, Nissan might just exceed those expectations.

Nissan sells more than 20,000 Leafs in first year, high-fives commence on Tokyo Motor Show floor originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source

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Autoblog | Email this | Comments

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