Mobile body area network (MBAN) technology has the potential to be a boon to the healthcare system of the future by enabling remote patient monitoring through disposable wireless devices -- meaning less doctor visits for everyone and great news for latrophobes. Until now, MBAN was opposed by the Aerospace & Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council (AFTRCC) because it utilizes the same radio bands that aircraft manufacturers do when they're testing new planes. AFTRCC didn't want all that medical chatter "polluting their spectrum" but decided to get on board with MBAN when the health care industry promised to create a way to stop signals that disrupt aeronautical traffic. MBAN is a part of the FCC's National Broadband Plan and purports to use short-length radio waves (not unlike Bluetooth) in the 2300 and 2400 MHz range to transmit physiological info to treating physicians -- as opposed to other patient monitors that use web-based communications. MBAN would initially be used in hospitals but could later find its way into residential use by employing home entertainment systems (Wii Fit integration, here we come!) to collect and transmit data. With the FCC expected to decide on the final rules for MBAN later this year, the Intel Health Guide may have some company in the at-home patient monitoring business. We can only hope that the next time the aeronautic and health care industries combine forces, it will take the form of jetpack-wearing doctors making house calls.
While brands like LG, Samsung, and Kenmore all showed off their own special brand of Jetsonian appliances at CES this year, Sub-Zero was close by touting a stable of 30 automation-ready products and a partnership with Control4 that could make them a contender for home automation domination. Sub-Zero's ZigBee-based system uses preexisting serial ports (initially installed for diagnostic purposes) to connect users to appliances via touchscreens, smart phones, and other enabled devices. The system lacks full control of potentially dangerous appliances like the oven, instead acting as an alert system when, say, your turkey is done roasting, but it does grant complete access to things like your refrigerator or freezer. Other systems might sport increased functionality, like LG's Thinq, which allows users to set oven temperatures remotely, and Samsung's fridge, which lets you tweet from a built-in touchscreen, but Sub-Zero is hoping a second-quarter release will put them at the head of the pack. We'll see if a head start makes a difference in the glacial appliance market, when Samsung rolls out its smart refrigerator this May and Kenmore's system comes to fruition in 2012.
Remember that day when Emblaze wowed the world with its First Else "death of main menu" smartphone? What a shame, eh? While it's unlikely that said Linux handset will ever be resurrected, there's a small chance that bits of its legacy will be passed onto other products. For instance, a recent LinkedIn newsletter led us to one Itai Vonshak who was the lead designer behind the First Else's brilliant, mesmerizing UI. Now, according to his profile, our man has recently moved into HP / Palm's comfy little house to do UX strategy. Whether this means webOS will get a slice of that Minority Report action, we don't know; but it'll be interesting to see what Vonshak will surprise us with at the HP / Palm event next month. For now, there's a hands-on video of the First Else after the break for old time's sake.
"The iPad 2 has a camera." We know, it feels all but certain at this point (even when it's far from official), but perhaps we can expand on that quoted assertion further. Like everyone else who can laugh at Objective-C jokes, 9 to 5 Mac has been digging through the latest iOS SDK and found some data referring to K94, which it claims is the codename for the next-generation iPad. (For reference, the original iPad was K48.) Anyway, within that code lies a string reference to "Back Facing 1MP Photo." Going further, the front-facing camera is reportedly VGA -- same as the iPhone, same as the iPod touch. It's unclear if the also-found "K95" files also included the the same data, or what exactly that codename might be, but if you're the betting sort, feel free to say, "the iPad 2's megapixel mullet is 0.3 up front, 1 in the back." It's still a gamble until Apple unveils it with a puff of virtual smoke on a presentation slide.
Just shy of a month after it launched on the PlayStation 3 and days after debuting on Boxee's Box, the new Vudu 2.0 interface is live on most TVs and Blu-ray players with access to the service. Check out our earlier gallery if you're not familiar with the new look, it should be identical across the lineup (sans-Move support of course) with recommendations, enhanced sharing options and optimized for HD. For now it looks like the Yahoo! Widgets based Samsung and Vizio versions are the only ones still lagging but they're on deck for an update "soon."
Sim racing keeps on moving toward higher-end accessories, while there have always been top-shelf components available to the hardcore, games like Gran Turismo 5 are encouraging more and more people to want a more and more realistic driving experience. Fanatec has been delivering that experience for years and its $250 Porsche 911 GT2 is the company's latest and highest-end product, offering a luxurious Alcantara covering, the obligatory 900 degrees of rotation, and full compatibility with force feedback for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Fanatec was also kind enough to send us a set of its $200 Clubsport pedals to hit the virtual road with. Click on through to see how we did.
It wasn't that long ago that we reviewed the company's 911 Turbo wheel, using the then recently released Forza 3 as an excuse. That wheel was covered in real leather and, while Alcantara is actually an artificial product made to look and feel like suede, it delivers a far preferable feel to raw hide. Paired with a set of similarly fuzzy driving gloves it offers incredible grip but, gloves off, the sensation is soft and comfortable, absorbing your palm sweat without complaint -- and if your palms aren't sweating you're driving too slow.
Getting the wheel out of the box and mounted somewhere is a bit of a process of cables and adapters and clamps, though the door is open for a variety of mounting possibilities. Removable but integrated clamps will hold this to your desk, though we found even when attached very securely the wheel would tilt ever so slightly toward you. It only happens if you grab the wheel and pull, and the clamps never actually failed on us, but it is a little disconcerting at first.
If you have the facilities for a semi-permanent installation, perhaps a sim cockpit or the like, there are threaded holes on the bottom of the wheel that you can use to screw it to whatever you want, certainly including the company's $130 RennSport Wheel Stand that we tested before. Or there's the new Clubsport Table Clamp, a $40 accessory that more securely mounts the wheel to a desk at a variety of angles.
We didn't get that, but we were sent the $40 carbon fiber shift paddles, a replacement for the completely adequate metal ones that come with the wheel. The composite flappy paddles are a bit more exotic and, if you're getting the feeling that configuring this wheel could be a very expensive endeavor, you're right. Like buying a high-end German auto there's no shortage of accessories here, and you run the risk of driving the cost of this setup through the roof. The good news is you can just buy what you need and, when you finally get sponsored by a virtual race team, go crazy on accessories.
The wheel itself has a bevy of buttons on the front, four buttons on each stalk next to thumbs, another two on the bottom stalk situated beneath a four-way rocker, and of course the shift paddles on the back. It's the same basic layout as the Turbo S wheel but things feel a bit more solid here, more firm. A little higher-end. Up on top are a further two buttons used for tuning, which we'll get into in a moment. Sadly there's no center button under the horn, though you're always welcome to make your own honking noises.
Finally there's an Xbox 360 Guide button on the base, needed if you're going to be connecting this wirelessly to Microsoft's console. Kindly the company has added an integrated headphone jack, which means you won't have to keep a separate controller around if you want some voice chat in Forza. If you're connecting to the PS3 or PC you'll need to do it via wired USB, though there's an optional wireless connector that you can use -- once the company gets them back in stock. Oh, and the six-speed shifter we have mounted on some of the pictures? That's another $50 too, if you want it.
The pedals
The $250 wheel doesn't come with pedals, so you'll need to find some if you actually want your car to go anywhere. If you happen to have a set of Logitech G25 or G27 pedals kicking around those can be used with an adapter, or you can order a set of the company's inexpensive and suitably named "Standard pedals," priced under $50. Or, if you have the scratch, there are the Clubsport Pedals, made of lovely machined aluminum and costing a rather dear $200.
These pedals can connect directly to the wheel or go straight to the PC, so they're completely standalone. They've been available from the company for a few years now but we're just getting our first taste. Their open construction makes them hugely customizable, with tweakable and replaceable springs plus moveable faces and, well, just look at them. They have a very light feel that's unlike the budget foot fodder found in most wheels but a heavy construction that sees them staying in place.
The biggest difference here from standard pedals is the load cell on the brake. Load cells don't read position like a potentiometer used in the pedals of most gaming setups, instead reading pressure, meaning the brake here feels and acts more like the real thing. There's even a rumbling force-feedback effect to simulate the pulsation of ABS, but sadly few games support it directly.
The experience
Wheel out of the box, drivers installed on the PC, pedals on the floor, held firmly in place by their considerable heft (11lbs), and everything connected to the PC, we started with iRacing. Turn on the wheel and it spins around to do an internal calibration, and immediately an annoying little fan inside spins to life. It's not terribly grating, especially once you start hearing some engine noises, but it is noticeable.
Naturally a re-calibration was required for the game and, it must be said, for the driver. The wheel has a very different feel from the G27 we've been using of late, a bit more resistance and force feedback effect. Thankfully there is a suite of configurable parameters that can be changed on the wheel itself, things like total force feedback effect, the linearity of motion of the wheel, the number of degrees of rotation you'd like on offer (up to 900), and about a half-dozen other minutia.
Normally you'd tune these things within whatever game you're playing, but quite often games will be missing some tunable parameter that you crave. Gran Turismo 5, for example, doesn't offer nearly the suite of wheel customization options that one might like. Thankfully you can adjust the wheel itself and save those settings into one of five slots. Then, as you go from Forza 3 to GT5 to LFS you can quickly load up the proper configuration before you're out of the pits.
For iRacing we found ourselves adding a little bit of what the company calls "drift," which actually uses the force feedback motors to help you turn the wheel faster. At maximum this allows you to go from lock to lock ridiculously quickly (and imprecisely), but just a few points of drift helped to counter-act the game's programmed resistance and gave the feel of a very over-boosted power steering setup. Just perfect.
The pedals were even easier to get configured but just as hard to adjust to. The first couple-dozen laps saw brake points blown and sand traps dredged as years of potentiometer dependency was weaned away. But, eventually, braking feel returned and the beauty of a load cell-based system came through. The brake pedal here allows for very precise modulation, saving our bacon on multiple occasions when we were a little too brave in dive-bombing competitors.
Meanwhile the accelerator and clutch are improvements over standard pedals too, offering high-precision, contact-free potentiometers and by default offering very low resistance but good feel. That said, if you like a little more resistance that's easy to achieve. You just need to move a few bolts to add a little more tension, or additional springs can be purchased to boost things even further.
We tested the wheel and pedals with a number of games on a number of systems, tethering to the PS3 and the Xbox 360 without issue and being up and rolling within minutes. In GT5 the wheel doesn't offer a substantially different feel compared to the Logitech G27, but the ability to modify the wheel's configuration on the wheel itself made it much easier to live with. Meanwhile we still found the effects in Forza 3 to be a little underwhelming, but we can't blame the wheel for that, and it worked flawlessly in every other racer we threw at it.
Wrap-up
Ultimately we have two separate products here that we're reviewing, with the wheel itself being the biggest story. It isn't a huge step forward from the 911 Turbo wheel that we reviewed back in 2009 in terms of functionality, but it does offer a much more luxe feel for the discerning racer and, at this point, if you want a totally cross-platform controller the GT2 is your best and only choice, as the Turbo has been discontinued. Given the GT2 is a better wheel for the same money there's no reason to cry over its passing.
However, we can't say it's a clearly better wheel than the G27 -- which notably doesn't work with the Xbox 360. The Alcantara feel, easy configurability, and powerful motors are definitely assets here, but Logitech's offering is quieter and has a more sturdy clamp if you're going for a non-permanent install. And, the G27 MSRP is $300, which includes an external six-speed shifter and pedals. Get an external shifter and Fanatec's cheapest set of pedals (which are not as good as the G27's set) and you're looking at about $350 here.
Of course, you might now be tempted by Fanatec's decidedly not cheap Clubsport pedals, which again will set you back $200. That's a lot of dough for three spring-loaded hunks of aluminum, but while we didn't find the wheel really making us much faster (though it did make us a better drifter), the pedals are a definite improvement. If you have the means, especially if you're a multi-platform racer, you should go for it -- or maybe wait for us to try out the $599 Thrustmaster T500RS.
We've known that AT&T has been test-marketing free 3G MicroCells to subscribers with particularly awful reception in certain parts of the country since the product launched last year, but as of January 23rd, they're codifying the offer and taking it nationwide. Bottom line: the "top 7.5 percent of 3G wireless customers identified as likely to experience poor in-building coverage at home or in small offices" will be receiving some snail mail with a discount code; bring it into an AT&T store and you'll be offered a gratis MicroCell. There's a catch, though -- you need to agree to a one-year contract on the unit (separate from your normal account contract), so if you cancel service within that year, you need to either return the MicroCell or get charged $199.99 minus $16.67 per month that you've had it. Of course, that lines up with the newly-increased MicroCell price that the carrier is instituting starting this Sunday. Considering that AT&T needs to acknowledge that you're in a terrible reception area to get it, we can't say we'd hope to be one of the "lucky" 7.5 percent -- but it's a nice benefit nonetheless.
It's here, what looks to be the world's first attempt at overclocking a Samsung Galaxy Tab. User Bauxite at the always happening xda-developers forums has posted the way to boosting Samsung's hunk of burning Android up to 1.2GHz -- along with some seriously stern warnings:
THIS KERNEL MAY NOT WORK ON YOUR DEVICE, MIGHT DESTROY YOUR DEVICE, MIGHT PUNCH YOUR CHILDREN, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY THIS KERNEL, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Initial user reports are generally positive but, given the risk and the complexity here we think we'll be staying at the stock 1GHz speed. For now, anyway.
We can do math, simple addition and multiplication anyway, but we have our doubts about T-Mobile. It seemed like a fairly straightforward thing to multiply $82.50 by four and take the result to determine the cost of the Dell Streak 7, but good 'ol T-Mo says that was the result of a "technical error" and actually has no relevance to the MSRP of this here tablet. What is the actual price? Sadly we're still just as much in the dark as you.
Update: This is of course a T-Mobile story, not Verizon, despite what the title original stated.
Florian Mueller has been killing it these past few months with his analysis of various tech patent suits on his FOSSpatents blog, and today he's unearthed a pretty major bombshell: at least 43 Android source files that appear to have been directly copied from Java. That's a big deal, seeing as Oracle is currently suing Google for patent and copyright infringement in Android -- which isn't a hard case to prove when you've got 37 Android source files marked "PROPRIETARY / CONFIDENTIAL" and "DO NOT DISTRIBUTE" by Oracle / Sun and at least six more files in Froyo and Gingerbread that appear to have been decompiled from Java 2 Standard Edition and redistributed under the Apache open source license without permission. In simple terms? Google copied Oracle's Java code, pasted in a new license, and shipped it.
Now, we've long thought Google's odd response to Oracle's lawsuit seemingly acknowledged some infringement, so we doubt this is a surprise in Mountain View, but we're guessing handset vendors aren't going to be so thrilled -- especially since using Android has already caused companies like HTC and Motorola to be hit with major patent lawsuits of their own. We'll see what happens, but in the meantime you should definitely hit up Florian's site for the full dirt -- it's some 47 pages worth of material, and it's dense, but if you're into this sort of thing it's incredibly interesting.
To us, MyFord Touch is a great way to manage your auto: four-way controllers on the steering wheel for navigating through simple, color-coded menus; a central touch panel; even voice recognition so that you can live out those Michael Knight fantasies. However, some folks, folks who apparently didn't spend their childhoods mashing thumbs into D-pads, are finding it all a little confusing. Consumer Reports recently railed against the system and Ford is looking to make the transition from knobs to buttons a little easier. Many dealers now offering tutorial sessions that owners of Touch-equipped cars can attend, a 45 minute thrill ride that'll let you and your salesman get just that much closer. Because, really, after we finally finish haggling and sign the paperwork there's nothing we want to do more than spend another hour in the dealership.
Turntables? We've seen a few: big and small, professional and decidedly amateur, but nothing quite like the Turnstyle. The idea here is to be "as simple as it gets," the bare minimum elements required to spin and read the record and play back the audio. This is what designer R.D. Silva came up with: motor in the middle, pivoting arm on the right, and controls and speaker on the bottom. We're thinking it won't be replacing your Goldmund for delivering the hi-fi tonality you crave, but it certainly is easy on the eyes.
Mitsu's i MiEV may be getting off to a slow start, but it's just the beginning. The company has announced a number of programs collectively titled "Environment Initiative Program 2015," a sort of stepping stone toward a broader reaching "Environmental Vision 2020." That Vision indicates a desire to have 20 percent of Mitsubishi sales be either pure electric vehicles or at least plug-in hybrids. The 2015 initiative sets a more modest goal of five percent, and to get there the company will launch a whopping eight electro-augmented vehicles between now and 2015. It starts with a commercialized MiEV this year, moving to two PHEVs next year, a new EV in 2013, and then another new EV in 2014 -- hopefully with names that roll off the tongue a little better than "i MiEV." Might we suggest the 2014 Mitsubishi Mitueevee?
We are totally ready for a quantum computer. Browse the dusty Engadget archives and you'll find many posts about the things, each charting another step along the way to our supposed quantum future. Here's another step, one that we think is a pretty big one. An international team of scientists has managed to generate 10 billion quantum entangled bits, the basic building block of a quantum computer, and embed them all in silicon which is, of course, the basic building block of a boring computer. It sounds like there's still some work to be done to enable the team to actually modify and read the states of those qubits, and probably a decade's worth of thumb-twiddling before they let any of us try to run Crysis on it, but yet another step has been made.
We've known for some time that Tesla hoped to use the underpinnings of the luscious Model S as a base platform upon which other cars would be built, even minivans. Elon Musk in the past has mentioned a Model X SUV due sometime in 2014 and he's just re-confirmed that we'll be getting our first glimpse of the thing sometime this year. Few further details are known but we wouldn't be surprised if it shared some components with the Tesla-powered Toyota RAV4 EV. Musk also took the opportunity to re-confirm that a genuinely affordable electric Tesla is coming by 2015, something priced under $30,000 and, while probably not quite as bodacious as either the Roadster or the Model S, hopefully it'll be a bit more invigorating than the Leaf.
Are you that kid aiming his father's laser pointer at people walking along city sidewalks? Yeah, well stop it -- now. What you might consider a harmless prank can have serious repercussions when aimed at the cockpit of an approaching jetliner. What seems like good fun at the time can temporarily blind a pilot attempting to land nearly a million pounds of life, metal, and fuel. According to the numbers just released by the FAA, 2010 saw a record number of reports of lasers pointed at aircraft -- "almost double" the number of reports from 2009. Of the 2,800 incidents reported nationwide, the Los Angeles area reported the most with 201 incidents, followed by Chicago (98), Phoenix (80, half of which were probably UFO related), and San Jose (80 -- nerds!). Top 20 list after the break.
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Press Release – FAA Announces Record Number of Laser Events in 2010
January 19, 2011
Pointing Lasers at Aircraft Poses a Serious Safety Issue
WASHINGTON – The FAA announced today that in 2010, nationwide reports of lasers pointed at aircraft almost doubled from the previous year to more than 2,800. This is the highest number of laser events recorded since the FAA began keeping track in 2005. Los Angeles International Airport recorded the highest number of laser events in the country for an individual airport in 2010, with 102 reports, and the greater Los Angeles area tallied nearly twice that number, with 201 reports. Chicago O'Hare International Airport was a close second, with 98 reports, and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport tied for the third highest number of laser events for the year with 80 each.
"This is a serious safety issue," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "Lasers can distract and harm pilots who are working to get passengers safely to their destinations."
Nationwide, laser event reports have steadily increased since the FAA created a formal reporting system in 2005 to collect information from pilots. Reports rose from nearly 300 in 2005 to 1,527 in 2009 and 2,836 in 2010.
"The FAA is actively warning people not to point high-powered lasers at aircraft because they can damage a pilot's eyes or cause temporary blindness," said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. "We continue to ask pilots to immediately report laser events to air traffic controllers so we can contact local law enforcement officials."
Some cities and states have laws making it illegal to shine lasers at aircraft and, in many cases, people can face federal charges.
The increase in reports is likely due to a number of factors, including the availability of inexpensive laser devices on the Internet; higher power levels that enable lasers to hit aircraft at higher altitudes; increased pilot reporting of laser strikes; and the introduction of green lasers, which are more easily seen than red lasers.
If you've never experience the thrill that is fearing for your life while some crazy rickshaw jockey takes you tearing through a busy street, two-stroke engine screaming even louder than you, you haven't really lived. Soon there'll be no 175cc engine to drown out your lamentations, with the Meguru offering all that thrill and style with an EV powertrain. It has a traditional Japanese design with motorcycle-derived innards but a cushy (and tackily upholstered) back seat for two -- or maybe three depending on how friendly everyone is. The side curtains are made of bamboo and washi paper, giving it a look that says "I'm at least partially organic." It's available now for a mere ¥100,000; about $1,200.
Update: A little further Googling has found a number of prior permutations for gas-free rickshaws, including a solar model, making us think the "world's first" claim here is perhaps a little dubious -- as it often is. Still, we'll give it world's first mass produced EV rickshaw.
When your core business is as wrapped up in emerging markets as Nokia's is, then you'd better know a little something about KIRFs -- those cheap handset clones that our Chinese friends can often stamp out faster than the time it takes for Nokia to ship a handset after its announcement. Nokia executive board member, Esko Aho, says that one out of every five cellphones now sold around the world (primarily in Asia, Latin America, and some parts of Europe) is an illegal or unlicensed clone. We've certainly seen more than our share when browsing the Shenzhen markets of China. Gartner claims the number to be even higher than 20 percent. While we poke fun at KIRFs around here for their shoddy software, comically similar branding (Nokla!), and cheapo materials, they've clearly become a very serious issue for top-tier cellphone manufacturers. How serious we'll see on January 27th when Nokia announces its fourth quarter results.
When first we saw Fujisoft's PALRO robot doing its thing we were charmed but, as it didn't speak English, we had to adore it from afar. No longer. The little critter has obviously mastered our language quite quickly and can be seen below chatting with an even more robotic humanoid about such idle things as the weather, career aspirations, and just how great PALRO is. How great is PALRO? PALRO is really great -- but humble. Inside that barrel chest is a full-fledged PC with an Atom Z530 processor, 4GB of flash storage, and an Ubuntu kernel keeping everything in check. It's available as ever for educational and research institutions for about $3,600, but we're trying to get one ourselves. If we can get it to type prepare yourselves for many more posts about software based on real Japanese cutting-edge technology.
There's a new iOS coming... eventually, and if you've jailbroken your device you know it's going to get locked up tight again. The latest version of Cydia won't change that, but getting back to where you left off just got a lot easier. The app has merged with Rock Your Phone and now enables you to sign in using a Google or Facebook account. It will then track your purchases and downloads so that they can be easily applied again. And again. And probably again. There's also a new rating system and lots of other goodies -- but don't take our word for it.
College students eagerly awaiting India's ambitious $35 tablet are going to have to put their dreams on hold -- there's been a delay. Earlier this week, the Times of India reported that the Indian government dropped HCL Technologies, the company responsible for manufacturing the great democratic tablet, for failing to follow through on the 600 million rupee (or $13,198,416) guarantee -- apparently a disagreement over production costs is to blame. Last summer, the country's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, made a number of appearances toting a mockup of the Android-based tablet, and promising a launch date of January 15th. Officials say the project is still on track and should be ready this summer. However, while the government seeks a replacement for HCL, skeptics continue to sound warnings that parts alone will cost more than $35. We'd like to chalk this up to haters hating, but we can't seem to forget what became of the $10 laptop.
Sure, lots of mice, ok, most mice can be coddled to work on fabric. But it takes a company with a dedicated mousing portfolio the size of Logitech's to design a mouse specifically for use on the sofa. See, the Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 features a sealed bottom case that lets you mouse around on soft surfaces without snagging. That means it won't collect bits of fuzz around the sensor when dragging it across the couch, bed, or a trouser-clad thigh. Naturally, it can also be used on more traditional computing surfaces, too. The M515 boasts up to two-years of battery life thanks, in part, to a hand-detection sensor that causes the mouse to sleep anytime it's not being held. Rounding out the list of features is Logitech's Hyper-Fast scrolling wheel and Unifying USB micro receiver required for the laptop or home theater PC you wish to control. Look for the M515 to ship to Europe in April for £49.99 -- that's about $80 converted, but you'll likely find it for a lot less whenever it hits US retail.
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Logitech Unveils Mouse Designed for Living Room
Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 Makes Browsing from the Sofa Easy
London. - Jan. 21, 2011 -Today Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) unveiled the Logitech® Wireless Mouse M515, delivering easy navigation from soft surfaces like your sofa, bed or a pillow. The Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 features a sealed bottom case that makes gliding on fabric easy and worry free, and a hand-detection sensor so the mouse is only active when you want it to be.
"Millions of people are connecting their computer to the TV, and the M515 mouse was built to address the unique needs of this experience," said Marcus Harvey, General Manager UK & IRE, Logitech. "As technology evolves and consumers' habits change, Logitech continues to develop navigation devices that make it easier to control and access the things people love to do in the digital world."
With its hand-detection sensor, the Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 is active only when you're gripping it - the mouse is only active when you want it to be, and it stays asleep when you don't. A sealed bottom - so fabric fuzz won't collect in the sensor opening - gives you cursor control no matter what surface you're using your mouse on. And the easy-gliding base makes mousing around on couches (and blankets, cushions, clothing, carpets, even desks) easy.
Also featuring effortless Logitech® Hyper-Fast Scrolling, the M515 mouse lets you coast smoothly through long blogs or social networking feeds. And you can switch to click-to-click mode when you need more control. Logitech's newest mouse also offers up to two years of battery life, helping you save time and money by eliminating the need to change batteries frequently. And, you'll enjoy plug-and-forget wireless connectivity thanks to the tiny Logitech® Unifying receiver. The receiver stays in your laptop so it's less likely to be lost, and gives you a reliable connection with virtually no delays or dropouts. Plus, you can easily add other Unifying-compatible mice and keyboards to the same receiver.
Pricing and Availability
The Logitech Wireless Mouse M515 is expected to be available in Europe beginning in April for a suggested retail price of £49.99. For more information please visit www.logitech.com.
Know what's awesome? Guns! Especially when they're capped with a glowing pastel ball. This more "realistic" alternative to the $20 Sony PS3 Move gun attachment is from Blaze and will set you back £9.99 (about $16) when it begins shipping at the end of February. Bring it to a Texas bar and we hear you'll get a complimentary Shirley Temple. Yeehaw!
HTC is legendary for its tacit support of the Android ROM cooking community. Motorola... not so much, thanks in large part to the company's policy of locking down the bootloader as a means to prevent unapproved software from running on its Droid handsets. An annoyance recently exacerbated by a moderator of Moto's YouTube channel who suggested that customers looking to install custom ROMs should "buy elsewhere." Ouch. The resulting public relations kerfuffle then prompted Motorola to publish a clarification to its bootloader policy on Facebook:
We apologize for the feedback we provided regarding our bootloader policy. The response does not reflect the views of Motorola. We are working closely with our partners to offer a bootloader solution that will enable developers to use our devices as a development platform while still protecting our users' interests. More detailed information will follow as we get closer to availability.
Obviously, we'll have wait for said details to get official before calling this a shift in strategy. It's certainly an improvement over Moto's previous approach of lawyering-up with cease and desist orders. Perhaps Motorola is taking a cue from Microsoft who seems to have recently discovered that it's better to embrace than to annoy a motivated hacking community -- customers who tend to be a company's most dedicated fans and evangelists.
Remember that patent for a manual-and-electronically-zooming Nikon lens? The rumor mill thinks it knows where it belongs: in Nikon's unannounced CoolPix P500, an update to the company's already-ludicrously-lengthy P100 that adds a 36x optical magnifying glass and bumps the backside-illuminated sensor to a full 12 megapixels of resolution. That camera will reportedly bow in February, but April is when Nikon will allegedly bring out the big guns -- the EVIL, market-molding monster of a mirrorless camera it's been teasing since last summer. Hit up our source links for all the scuttlebutt you need.
We've never seen an official price for Dell's Streak 7 tablet, but we can now readily guess what it will be -- thanks to T-Mobile's website, which is now two for two. You see, the wireless carrier typically lets you pay for devices in monthly installments rather than one lump sum, and StreakSmart discovered the former number is already printed below. As we're sure you've already discerned, that means four easy payments of $82.50 will buy you the Tegra 2-toting 4G tablet -- assuming the figure is correct -- and now that we've perfected our QVC salesman voice, we'll let you decide whether or not that's a deal.
There's unfortunately no pictures or video of it in action just yet, but it looks like Desk Pets is getting set to join Parrot and its AR.Drone in the wild world of toys controlled by iOS devices. That comes in the form of the company's forthcoming TankBot, which can not only be controlled by your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, but by gestures thanks to its built-in IR sensors -- it'll also operate autonomously in its maze navigation or free roaming modes, for good measure. Look for this one to be available in June for "under $20" in your choice of four different colors.
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Ben, who needs a good, great or amazing LCD monitor for $200 or less. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
"I'm currently in the market for a new computer monitor, and I'm trying to find the biggest "bang for my buck" under the order of around $200. I would be using this monitor a lot for video and photo editing, so sharpness and contrast is a must, but I'll also be using it a lot for watching HD movies and playing games. It needs to have a both an HDMII and VGA port in it, and a built-in TV tuner would be nice, too. In short, I need the biggest, sharpest, and most well-built monitor I can get for under two bills. Thanks!"
Two years ago, there'd be just a handful of options when pondering this question. Today, there are loads of monitors for under $200, particularly when an actual screen size isn't required. Any choice options from the folks in the crowd? Contribute your own down in comments below!
We were wondering how Apple was going to handle two different button configurations for its AT&T and Verizon iPhones, and well, the solution couldn't be simpler. One reader visiting the Apple Store stumbled upon a bumper with a slightly different packaging. Thankfully, this intrigued him enough to pick one up and do a side-by-side comparison between this new "universal case" and the old first-party solution. The only change, since volume buttons are mapped identically between the two, is a slot for the mute button that's decidedly less mute. Definitely works with his AT&T model and should theoretically fit Verizon's model, too. Tough luck if you're making a move to Big Red and trying to bring an old case, but let's be honest... you'd be paying a pretty penny for the new device anyway, so what's a few more dollars for physical protection? Video comparison after the break.
Launched in early 2009, Sprint's Premier loyalty program has been one of the more generous (and easy to understand) perks programs in the American wireless industry: just keep a certain minimum spend per month or stick around for ten years, and boom, you're eligible. Most importantly, Premier customers are currently able to get new contract pricing after just a single year into their existing contracts, which makes gadget freaks on the network far, far less likely to go bankrupt. Well, mirroring some of the other early upgrade changes we're seeing in the business lately, it looks like these guys are planning on dialing things back come April 1st (and no, the irony is not lost). Though some Premier customers will still get upgrades after a year, that privilege will be dialed back to members of the new Gold tier which will require ten years of service with Sprint. Yes, that's right: you'll have needed to have a line on these guys since before the Matrix Phone came out to get the biggest benefit of the program. If you don't qualify, you still could get in on the Silver tier, which gives you miscellaneous perks like accessory discounts... but not the full upgrade discount after a year. Instead, you'll need to wait 22 months, which -- at the current rate -- is about 47 major versions of Android.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Update: As before, you'll be able to skirt the 10-year requirement with a minimum spend and at least six months of service; that minimum will be $89.99 a month for individual lines at $169.99 a month for family plans. Whew!
Canadians, you must chafe under the yoke of a Gingerbread-free existence no longer, for the Nexus S is coming to the Great White North sometime in March. According to Mobilicity CEO Dave Dobbin, the handset will be available on the company's AWS band, but he also said that Bell, Telus, and Rogers will carry the Nexus S as well. If true, that means Samsung will be providing another model of the phone with support for WCDMA 850 / 1900 for it to work with Canada's big three wireless providers. We can only hope that's the case, as said model would be usable on AT&T's network -- making an awful lot of us living south of Canada quite happy. Peep the video after the break to hear the good news for yourself.
We were politely asked to keep quiet about this until today, but here's the truth: XBMC now runs on the Apple A4, period. As in, there's no reason why you can't install that shiny new Apple TV 2 version of the media center software on your jailbroken iPad or iPhone 4 too. Find instructions at our more coverage link... then give the hackers and developers a cheer.
"To our millions of customers, who never stopped believing this day would come..." Alright, we guess they earned just this one moment of visual hyperbole.
So you jailbroke your new Apple TV, only to realize that there's not allthatmuch to do at the top of Everest except rest and enjoy your accomplishment, eh? No need to trek back down the hill -- there are a great many minds at work to leverage your new-found power into something truly useful. Like what, you say? Take a gander above. An second-generation Apple TV appeared at our doorstep this weekend with XBMC on board -- decoding our 1080p HD content, complete with hardware acceleration, on Apple's ARM silicon, and with only occasional choppiness.
If your sense of self-entitlement is wondering what took so long, don't. We're told that this isn't a simple port, as the new Apple TV doesn't share much with its older brother, and is an entirely different animal to develop for. The bulk of the work has been done, though, and as you can see in the video above, once you launch XBMC from the new Apple TV it is the same great experience you've come to love. The difference is, this time, the hardware you're running it on costs just $99. This tiny box is finally beginning to feel magical... now, we're just waiting on a simple installer so we can load it up ourselves.
Update: And just like that, the wait is over. If your jailbroken second-gen Apple TV is ready and you have the foggiest idea what "apt-get" does, you can install XBMC right now. Find instructions at our more coverage link below.
We're not sure how we missed this concept tablet at CES a few weeks ago -- oh right, there were over 40 something tablets hanging around! -- but MSI's projector-equipped Windows 7 slate sure is an interesting one. Yep, in addition to its crazy Butterfly and Angelow all-in-ones, MSI cobbled together a rather chunky, Atom-powered, 10-inch tablet with a built-in swivel projector. We don't have any details on the projector itself -- no lumens or resolution -- but according to Notebook Italia, it can be maneuvered to display on a wall or even flipped around to project downward onto a table. A MSI rep implied that the latter function could be used to enable some sort of laser projected keyboard (we're imagining it to be a lot like this one from Light Blue Optics), but there's no actual software in place for that yet. That seems to be a popular feature in concepts these days (see Mozilla's amazing Seabird) -- now just give us the real thing! Hit the source link for a few more shots of MSI's tablet / projector contraption.
Updated: Our friends at NetbookNews spotted a video of the concept tablet on TBreak. As you'd expect this looks like one unfinished product, but hit the break to check it out for yourself.
Oh sure, we've seen the Kinect assist a hadouken or two, but that wasn't the same: here, the YouTube user who brought us Call of Dutyvia Wiimote, Nunchuk and Kinect is throwing fireballs and taking names in the real game. Demize2010 manipulated the FAAST emulator to recognize a variety of virtual martial arts gestures, including the infamous dragon uppercut and whirlwind kick -- giving him everything he needs for a flowchart victory with only his bare hands.
Meanwhile, one Bill Maxwell has taken the Kinect and made it recognize his fist, the better to control first-person shooter games with requiring an Wiimote intermediary. He's developed a "high-speed kinematic tracker" called MaxFPS that monitors his hand's position in real time, allowing him to move, turn, jump, and reload with quick swipes of his paw. How do you shoot? Why, by punching those baddies' lights out, of course. See it on video after the break.
We've seen what other companies have in store for our automotive future, and now Audi's given us a glimpse of what we can expect from its car of tomorrow. The company's Silicon Valley research lab have teamed up with four universities here in the US to develop technologies that will give city drivers the full KITT treatment -- vehicles that recognize the driver (and his or her preferences) and can detect and avoid dangers and traffic delays. Called the Audi Urban Intelligence Assist initiative, each participating university has a specific area of urban mobility research ranging from urban crash analysis to aggregating historical and real-time traffic, parking, and pedestrian data in cities. The schools will also study how best to deliver relevant information to drivers and get them from point A to point B as easily and efficiently as possible. Looks like the groundwork is being laid for a German counterpart to GM's EN-V we test drove in Vegas, and we look forward to the fruits of their labor. Ich bin ein Ingolstädter!
Motorola files dozens upon dozens of FCC certifications a year, so what makes us so sure this here IHD-P56LS1 is the might Atrix 4G for AT&T? Fair question: for one thing, it's got 850 and 1900MHz 3G (or 4G, in AT&T parlance). Furthermore, it's approved for 5GHz 802.11n WiFi, which is extraordinarily rare for a phone -- and it was a feature Moto was sure to pimp during the Atrix's CES unveiling. Oh, and finally, it's identified in the filing as model number MB860, which would be the Atrix's model number. So yeah, there's one more checkmark to tick off prior to release... which hopefully won't be too much longer, because we're seriously jonesing to do some laptop docking.
All things considered, HTC doesn't do the best job of protecting its roadmap; indeed, the slides that leaked a little over a year ago ended up doing a fabulous job of showing us what was in the pipe for 2010, so we wouldn't doubt the massive spread that PocketNow published today. Starting at the top, we've got a device that looks like a trackpad-less evolution of the original Desire (pictured above), another that looks like an Aria-sized Nexus One in black (complete with old-school trackball), and an additional version of a buttonless phone that's got generic HTC branding in place of the Verizon logo in a picture unearthed by Phandroid a few days ago (pictured after the break).
That's not all, though: there also seems to be a lower-end Android device with physical Send / End buttons and an optical trackpad underneath a smallish display accompanied by the usual four capacitive buttons. A device with a China Telecom logo on it is also in the mix, looking like a big-screened model that'll probably be ready to do battle with that 1.2GHz Droid X by a different name that just launched over there. Finally, there's a small, entry-level model that might succeed the Smart as HTC's Brew MP-powered flagbearer, though Android is obviously the thrust here. Specs and names are still a mystery across the board at this point, but as PocketNow says, we wouldn't be surprised to get details at MWC next month.
Normally you'd tune these things within whatever game you're playing, but quite often games will be missing some tunable parameter that you crave. Gran Turismo 5, for example, doesn't offer nearly the suite of wheel customization options that one might like. Thankfully you can adjust the wheel itself and save those settings into one of five slots. Then, as you go from Forza 3 to GT5 to LFS you can quickly load up the proper configuration before you're out of the pits.
HTC is legendary for its tacit support of the Android ROM cooking community. Motorola... not so much, thanks in large part to the company's policy of locking down the bootloader as a means to prevent unapproved software from running on its Droid handsets. An annoyance recently exacerbated by a moderator of Moto's YouTube channel who suggested that customers looking to install custom ROMs should "buy elsewhere." Ouch. The resulting public relations kerfuffle then prompted Motorola to publish a clarification to its bootloader policy on Facebook: 
Launched in early 2009, Sprint's Premier loyalty program has been one of the more generous (and easy to understand) perks programs in the American wireless industry: just keep a certain minimum spend per month or stick around for ten years, and boom, you're eligible. Most importantly, Premier customers are currently able to get new contract pricing after just a single year into their existing contracts, which makes gadget freaks on the network far, far less likely to go bankrupt. Well, mirroring some of the other early upgrade changes we're seeing in the business lately, it looks like these guys are planning on dialing things back come April 1st (and no, the irony is not lost). Though some Premier customers will still get upgrades after a year, that privilege will be dialed back to members of the new Gold tier which 
Canadians, you must chafe under the yoke of a Gingerbread-free existence no longer, for the Nexus S is coming to the Great White North sometime in March. According to Mobilicity CEO Dave Dobbin, the handset will be available on the company's AWS band, but he also said that Bell, Telus, and Rogers will carry the Nexus S as well. If true, that means Samsung will be providing another model of the phone with support for WCDMA 850 / 1900 for it to work with Canada's big three wireless providers. We can only hope that's the case, as said model would be usable on AT&T's network -- making an awful lot of us living south of Canada quite happy. Peep the video after the break to hear the good news for yourself. 
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