BMW brings iDrive Touch, 3D maps to ConnectedDrive, LTE integration coming soon

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/11/bmw-connecteddrive-with-idrive-touch-3d-maps/

Hot on the heels of the news it'll be the first auto company to sport Nuance's Dragon Drive! on some of its fancy rides, BMW's now announced a handful of improvements and additions to its elegant ConnectedDrive infotainment system. For starters, the German outfit's bringing an all-new feature dubbed iDrive Touch (available in China this month, elsewhere at some point next year), giving drivers the ability to use a multitouch pad for easier overall navigating throughout the console, do some numbers / text inputting and use pinch-to-zoom capabilities while using the maps application. Speaking of which, BMW is also introducing "3D City Models," this will essentially give folks behind the wheel a "realistic depiction" of streets and buildings around their location area -- however, it's worth mentioning these tidbits will only be useful in "select locations." What's more, BMW's said the new enhancements are getting a speed boost thanks to LTE integration, but that'll have to wait until November of this year. If you're interested in learning more, feel free to give the PR below a quick read.

Continue reading BMW brings iDrive Touch, 3D maps to ConnectedDrive, LTE integration coming soon

< p>Filed under: Transportation, Software

BMW brings iDrive Touch, 3D maps to ConnectedDrive, LTE integration coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 23:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba's new 2.5-inch AL13SE hard drives: up to 900GB of 10,500RPM storage

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/toshiba-2-5-inch-900gb-al13se-10500rpm-hard-drive/

A 2.5-inch drive spinning at speeds up to 10,000RPM? Sure, we've seen it before, but only with enough room for 600GB worth of data. Toshiba, however, has trumped its forebears by upping the capacity to 900GB with its new 2.5-inch HDD, dubbed the AL13SE. 300GB, 450GB and 600GB flavors are offered as well, and all of them spin at up to 10,500RPM and promise a 32% increase in sustained transfer rates over previous-gen drives. Additionally, the AL13SE sends and receives data via a 6Gbps SAS 2.0 connection to make life easier on IT guys than those SATA drives most of us use. Unfortunately, Tosh isn't telling how much the new drives will cost, nor when they'll be available for purchase, but you can dig into all the drive details you can handle in the PR after the break and at the source link below.

Continue reading Toshiba's new 2.5-inch AL13SE hard drives: up to 900GB of 10,500RPM storage

Filed under: Storage

Toshiba's new 2.5-inch AL13SE hard drives: up to 900GB of 10,500RPM storage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony unveils first medical-grade OLED monitor, surgery gets rendered in all-too-vivid color

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/sony-unveils-first-medical-grade-oled-monitor/

OLED screens are virtually everywhere, and they're steadily getting bigger, but it was tough to find any in hospitals until now. While Sony's 25-inch PVM-2551MD might not have the most glamorous name, it's the first and only OLED monitor with FDA approval for use in surgery. No, it's not just to give the doctor something more pleasing (or disgusting) to look at while she's removing a gallstone -- the organic display can be a genuine help for surgery through the higher contrast, virtually non-existent blur and more faithful color reproduction versus the LCDs it's meant to replace. Us patients likely won't see the now-shipping 2551MD for much longer than it takes to go unconscious, so it might be hard to appreciate; if it helps surgeons finish operations faster and with fewer mistakes, however, we could all reap the rewards.

Continue reading Sony unveils first medical-grade OLED monitor, surgery gets rendered in all-too-vivid color

Filed under: Displays, Science

Sony unveils first medical-grade OLED monitor, surgery gets rendered in all-too-vivid color originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 02:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/new-york-mta-announces-smartphone-ticketing-trials/

Like big sodas, paper ticket stubs may soon become a thing of the past in New York. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced that, come next month, its employees will begin trials of a smartphone-based ticketing system aboard the Metro-North Railroad. While the grand experiment is currently closed to the public, it's said that railroad workers will use their Android, BlackBerry and iPhone handsets to purchase rail tickets, which may then be validated directly from their smartphone. During the trial, the new system will be compared to the current purchasing scheme that combines both ticket machines and on-board purchases. Should everything prove successful, the MTA will expand the Metro-North's new system to all-comers. Transit-minded folks will find the full PR after the break.

[Image credit: Masabi (Flickr)]

Continue reading New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation, Software

New York MTA announces smartphone-based ticketing trials aboard Metro-North Railroad originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Angry Birds land on Samsung Smart TVs, wage war with gestures

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/angry-birds-land-on-samsung-smart-tvs-wage-war-with-gestures/

If your contempt for green swine runs deeper then you can express on a smartphone, maybe its time you took the war to something bigger. How about a Samsung Smart TV? According to the firm's Flickr page, Rovio's Angry Birds are once again taking their war to your living room, and will be utilizing the the platform's motion control features. Sounds like Sammy's Smart Interaction setup is good for a bit more than changing channels and browsing the web from your couch. Don't own a Smart TV? Sit tight, your Xbox and its fancy Kinect sensor will have their day on the battlefield soon enough.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Angry Birds land on Samsung Smart TVs, wage war with gestures originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 05:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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