Gadget Train

It can get a bit confusing at times amid all the announcements about announcements, but the folks at FON have now finally confirmed that their Fonera 2.0n “web applications” router is indeed available in the US, and for the bargain price of just $99. As its name suggests, in addition to functioning just fine as a regular 802.11n router, this one will also let you manage a whole host of web applications like Twitter, Facebook or Flickr even when your computer is turned off — finally giving you the ability to, for instance, tweet when an upload or download has completed (a surefire way to hang onto those followers you’ve amassed). Still not up to speed on all this Fonera business? Don’t worry, there’s a helpful video after the break.

[Via Wi-Fi Planet]

Continue reading Fonera 2.0n web applications router now available in the US

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Fonera 2.0n web applications router now available in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like the reports of i-mate’s demise may have been slightly exaggerated. Of course, most of its employees are still laid off, its offices are still closed, and no one’s answering the phones, but i-mate CEO Jim Morrison assures us that “everything about i-mate will continue.” It turns out the company is just dealing with some “major fraud” that was discovered at the end of August as it was beginning to introduce a new line of devices, which led to some problems with little things like “paying employees.” Those employees are also now said to be considering taking things up with the local authorities in Dubai, which Morrison admits would make things “difficult,” although he insists that the company still has those new products ready to go, that it’s “looking for more funding,” and that “there is a lot of good stuff happening.”

[Thanks, Brendan]

Filed under: Cellphones

i-mate CEO says company isn’t dead yet, just dealing with ‘major fraud’ originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alright, so it may not be quite as terrifying as something like Carnegie Mellon’s robotic snake or NC State’s remote-control bats, but this so-called Gymnobot from the University of Bath does boast some animal-mimicking abilities of its own and, if all goes as planned, it could eventually grow a whole lot bigger. Its secret is a single fin underneath its body that mimics the way a knifefish swims, which just so happens to also be an extremely efficient way for a robot to propel itself through the water. That, the researchers say, could eventually be adapted for larger autonomous or remotely operated vehicles, would be able to maneuver in shallow water and other areas that are problematic for propeller-driven craft. Head on past the break to check it out in action.

Continue reading Gymnobot looks to fish for inspiration, a little companionship

Filed under: Robots

Gymnobot looks to fish for inspiration, a little companionship originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks likes someone at Microsoft is terribly sloppy with where they leave their important files sitting around. Gizmodo has gotten its hands on two images allegedly of the Pink smartphones that we’ve been hearing about lately. If you believe your orbs, these represent two distinct iterations of devices which the big M is looking at. Taking a glance at the renders, it’s clear that at least one model is that Pre-like phone we spied the other day, supposedly (and creatively) codenamed “Turtle.” The other device is dubbed the “Pure,” and unfortunately for Microsoft, looks like the G1 having a bad hair day… in 1988. Both devices bear a kind of child-like, simplistic look, which actually makes us wonder if these aren’t some concept pieces geared toward the youth market. As Giz says, “Project Pink is Microsoft’s new phone for regular people,” and “Pink will be primarily aimed at the same market as the Sidekick.” Much of that info jibes almost exactly with the news Mary-Jo Foley recently speculated on. Then again, with all the heat the company has been getting about this top secret project, these could very well be reference designs (as opposed to proper models) for a forthcoming lineup of devices. Whatever the case may be, we’re definitely underwhelmed from an industrial design standpoint. If this is Microsoft’s play for the mainstream consumer smartphone buyer, they’ve got a pretty big boulder to push uphill.

Microsoft’s Pink phones revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of strapping muzzles on your youngsters whenever you have to make that eight hour trek to grandma’s pad? So were a couple of engineers at Audiovox. The VOD10PS2 claims to be the planet’s first fully integrated gaming system made for the car, with the overhead system not only packing a 10.2-inch display, but an honest-to-goodness PlayStation 2 console as well. Just so we’re clear — the $949.99 asking price nets you the box itself, a screen, a PS2, two wireless controllers, a built-in dome light, a pair of fold-flat IR wireless headphones and a copy of Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and Hot Shots Golf 3. Heck, there’s even a remote and FM transmitter, not to mention a pair of trim rings that’ll obviously work with whatever drab interior color you selected for your minivan. So, willing to pay just under a grand to shut the little ones up forever? (Tempting, isn’t it?)

Filed under: Gaming, Transportation

Audiovox integrates PlayStation 2 into rear-seat entertainment system originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it seems like that sex-on-wheels advert has done its job. Fisker’s development of the oh so desirable Karma PHEV and its lower-cost sibling, now known as Project Nina (inspired by Christopher Columbus’ escape from the Old World, no less), has been given a significant boost by the US government. Henrik Fisker himself has been quoted as saying that once the conditional loan is in, “it wouldn’t take long to get the lower-cost plug-in hybrid on the road.” If the company carries over the aggressive styling from the luxury model, it might have a real winner on its hands, though — we know — it’s got to be cheap enough first. While waiting for that $528.7 million to work its magic, you can gawk at the solar paneled roof on the Karma, to be found after the break.

Continue reading Department of Energy lends Fisker $528.7 million for Karma and Project Nina

Filed under: Transportation

Department of Energy lends Fisker $528.7 million for Karma and Project Nina originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The world better be ready for SuperSpeed USB 3.0, cause it’s coming, baby — and by the looks of things at IDF, it’s coming soon. Intel’s “USB Community” pavilion is filled with SuperSpeed tech from a variety of companies, and while some of the demos are happening on crazy Frankenstein rigs, there’s a bunch of stuff here that’s basically ready to ship by the holidays, including controller chips from NEC and Fujitsu, which are the heart of the whole shebang. Of course, while lightning-fast SSD transfers are nice, the showiest product on the floor is Point Grey’s prototype HD camera here, which streams uncompressed 1080p video over USB 3.0 — it’s not a final product, but it’s apparently quite close. Yes, we know the gallery below is basically cable porn, but here are the facts: USB 3.0 is 10x faster than 2.0 while using less power, and it’s entirely backwards-compatible, since the five 3.0 pins in the connector have been cleverly engineered to sit above the four legacy 2.0 pins. If that doesn’t get you dreaming of hard drives for the holidays, well, we don’t know what will. Video after the break!

Continue reading USB 3.0 has a SuperSpeed coming-out party at IDF

Filed under: Peripherals

USB 3.0 has a SuperSpeed coming-out party at IDF originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s making a big TV push here at IDF, and a lot of it centers around the CE 3100 Media Processor, which combines an 800MHz Pentium M core with a proprietary video processing core all on one chip. That’s about as much power as a 1.2GHz Atom, and it’s enabled some pretty cool demos, like this box that’s running a custom Flash Lite UI on top of Linux. The video silicon accelerates H.264 playback, so newer YouTube content looked fantastic — some of the best big-screen YouTube we’ve ever seen actually. That’s all the software was optimized for, however — older content that required software decoding looked much worse, and playback wasn’t stellar. That’s down to optimization, though, and we’re willing to forgive it, especially since the demo was put together in two weeks or so. Of course, the big question when you’re looking at an IA core running Flash is whether or not this rig can do Hulu on a big screen, and the answer was cautious but optimistic: it’s technically possible and even somewhat easy, but as usual it all comes down to Hulu allowing it. (What else did you expect?) Still, it’s interesting to see a set-top box with some actual processing power, and Intel’s got some more interesting demos for us coming up, including a three-tuner Tru2Way HTPC that can send video to a PS3. Video after the break!

Continue reading Video: Intel-powered set-top box running Flash, decoding HD video

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Video: Intel-powered set-top box running Flash, decoding HD video originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[DEMOFall 09] Micello is a database of maps of places like shopping malls, college campuses, convention centers etc… that mobile users can explore and access useful information while interacting with each other, thanks to its social networking component. There tons of Location Based Services such as Google Latitude or Loopt, bit none of them has really got into the buildings with relevant information.I can imagine very well how this application could provide both information and highly relevant advertising to a super targeted and engaged audience. Currently the app only provide maps for 150 places in the bay area and the user interface could be more appealing, however the concept could be developed very well with more funding (for now it is a “friends and family” funding). The company plans to include theme parks, golf courses, fitness centers, airpots, museums. Micello is available at the Apple AppStore and will be launched on BlackBerry, Android and WebOS in the coming months. www.micello.com

Micello will demo live on stage in the 8.30- 11.10 am session on Tuesday Sept.22nd, live.ubergizmo.com.

Features after the jump:

Permalink: Micello: Mobile Indoors Maps from Ubergizmo | Hot: iPhone 3GS Review

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If you ask a young boy to spec out his ideal boat, you might hear of helipads, swimming pools, missile-proof hulls, mini-submarines and laser shields. Well, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich is one of those people with the time and money to listen to his inner child, and he’s gone and put all of the above together inside a $1.2 billion 557-foot vessel of luxury and excess. The Eclipse will attempt to repel paparazzi with a laser system that is said to “detect CCDs” (we suspect they mean it detects the autofocus light), and responds with an intense beam of light that precludes unwanted photography. We don’t know how well the automatic system will work, but it must be fun to manually point the lasers at the paps and go “pew pew!”

[Via Fark]

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Roman Abramovich’s Eclipse has anti-photo ‘laser shield’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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