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- IRL: Nuu SoftKey, MacBook Air and Thermaltake's eSports Cyclone Edition gaming mouse
- Apple iPad mini appears in Media Markt inventory in cellular and WiFi flavors, $250-650 price range
- We have lift off: Felix Baumgartner and Red Bull Stratos launch for record-breaking space jump, watch right here (video)
- Inhabitat's Week in Green: Bicymple, computer-age fossils and an underground mushroom tunnel
- Bell may get Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE on November 1st, give Canadians rough and tumble 4G
- Rimac e-M3 breaks EV acceleration records, soon to be dethroned by its own creator (video)
- Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown
- TiVo opens up Developer Channel, lets third parties create apps for your DVR
- Ask Engadget: Should I replace my mouse with a graphics tablet?
- Mobile Miscellany: week of October 8th, 2012
- Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon possibly caught stopping by the FCC
- Alt-week 10.13.12: is the Universe a simulation, cloning dinosaurs and singing mice
| IRL: Nuu SoftKey, MacBook Air and Thermaltake's eSports Cyclone Edition gaming mouse Posted: 14 Oct 2012 11:06 AM PDT Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment.  Welcome back! This week in real-life adventures with gadgetry, Sharif recommends an $80 gaming mouse and Dan pleads with you all not to buy a certain keyboard case for the iPad. As for Philip, he just purchased his first Apple product after years of buying Windows laptops and Zune players, which means he's got a little explaining to do. NUU Softkey Of course, none of that would matter if its keyboard was useful enough to relegate my laptop to the bottom of my carry-on. Unfortunately, it's topped with a rubber membrane that's too easily parted from its keys, meaning that the only travel you experience is when you depress the sheath in on itself. The keyboard, too, needlessly includes Escape, Arrow and Function keys that, while useful, could have easily been shed to increase the size of the letters. As such, my quest to turn the iPad into a useful work machine will struggle on. -- Dan Cooper MacBook Air (13-inch, 2012) Truthfully, my reasons for picking up an OS X machine are far more practical than lecherous. It's become increasingly clear that my Windows-only approach is a bit outdated. As part of a group that obsessively covers technology, it only makes sense for me to stay current with as many hardware and software ecosystems as I can. I've used OS X for years in the work environment (and Mac OS 9 before that). But this Ivy Bridge-powered 13-inch Air represents the first time I've ever spent my own money on an Apple product. That's right, no iPods or iPhones in our home. Just look at my Zune HD and Windows Phone. So far, I'm not regretting my decision. This keyboard and trackpad combo is supremely comfortable and the solid-state drive is impressively quick. As of this writing, I've been on battery for about three hours and only just crossed the 50 percent threshold. The screen may not be Retina-level, but I've no complaints about it so far (though I haven't done any photo editing just yet). Up next: installing Windows 7 (and later Win 8) for a little Boot Camp action so I can have two great OSes on one amazing machine. Yup, I'm officially a two-timer -- and I'm not ashamed. -- Philip Palermo Thermaltake eSports Cyclone Edition -- Sharif Sakr |
| Apple iPad mini appears in Media Markt inventory in cellular and WiFi flavors, $250-650 price range Posted: 14 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT
Still waiting for all those alleged iPad mini leaks to culminate into something official? Why not take one more while you wait: according to a proven source of Mobile Geeks, German electronics retailer Media Markt has the iPad mini in 16 flavors in its inventory system. The company's internal documentation shows the rumored tablet at 8, 16, 32 and 64GB configurations, with each offering a choice of black or white, as well as a choice of 3G or just WiFi. The retailer is listing sticker prices, too: for the WiFi-only flavor, €249 buys an 8GB model, €349 snags 16GB, €449 for 32GB and €549 scores 64GB of storage. Looking for a slab with cellular connectivity? Stack an extra €100 on each of those prices. The listing doesn't have anything official to say about US greenbacks, but the included 19% tax evens up the dollar and euro quite nicely, giving us a reasonable idea what kind of pricing we can expect to see in the states. To put things into perspective, this would be a $150 savings on the 16GB WiFi model when compared to the full sized $499 slate Apple currently offers. Of course, this is all counting on Cupertino making the device official. We'll let you know if we hear anything. |
| Posted: 14 Oct 2012 08:24 AM PDT
Talk about building up the tension! Yep, our favorite Austrian daredevil is back out on the New Mexico desert, hoping the weather will hold, and he can finally fall into the record books. Don't forget, you can catch up on Felix Baumgartner's long journey to Roswell in our project overview, but if you're just here for the jump, no problem, as you can watch right here too. Currently conditions are looking like they might just go in Baumgartner's favor, despite some initial concerns about wind levels. But, as we found out earlier in the week, anything can change in an instant. Hold on to your hat (and your breakfast), and hop past the break to watch the events unfold live.
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| Inhabitat's Week in Green: Bicymple, computer-age fossils and an underground mushroom tunnel Posted: 14 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. We tend to look to green designers and architects to inspire us and reshape our understanding of what's possible, and this week we've seen plenty of visionary green designs over at Inhabitat. First, JM Schivo & Associati unveiled ambitious plans for "Earth City," a futuristic green city that would be entirely powered by renewable energy. Then, inspired by NYC's High Line, Fletcher Priest won the Green Infrastructure Ideas Competition with his proposal for an underground mushroom tunnel beneath the streets of London. At the World Architecture Festival, Nikken Sekkei took home the sustainable building award for its evaporative cooling bioskin building in Tokyo, and science fans successfully purchased Nikola Tesla's old Long Island workshop to turn it into a museum. When it comes to bikes, chains are out and "crab riding" is in. This fall, Scalyfish Designs unveiled the Bicymple, a compact, chainless bike that features an optional rear steering mode that's reminiscent of custom "swing bikes." And Mando released the Footloose e-bike, a chainless, folding electric bike that's also super-compact. We're also continuing to see innovation in traditional bikes, like UBC GmbH's Coren bike, which is made of high tensile strength T1000 carbon fibers. The only downside: it costs a whopping $32,000. In green car news, Ford's new 2013 C-MAX plug-in hybrid was rated the most fuel-efficient plug-in hybrid available in the US this week. And a new study confirmed suspicions that electric cars that are powered by energy from coal plants have a heavy carbon footprint. In one of the coolest installations we've ever seen, rAndom International created a Rain Room that lets you play in the rain without ever getting wet. A program tracks your movements, and the curtain of rain stops when you approach it. We also checked out Anthony Oh's super-cute recycled robots, which are so tiny they fit on the tip of your finger. Using wires, pieces of metal sheeting and circuit boards, artist Peter McFarlane transforms old circuit boards into amazing computer-age fossils that somehow look prehistoric. And we marveled at the work of artist Bernard Pras, who recreates classic works of art using only recycled materials. As the seasons change and the temperature drops, now is a great time to think about weatherizing your house, and we rounded up 15 green household products that can save you money and energy. A couple of university students in the UK designed the Power Flower, a flower-shaped "living" energy meter that droops down and starts to die when you use too much energy. Melissa Kit Chow, a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, designed a garment that will only fuel our Facebook addiction: Chow's "Like-A-Hug" vest gives you a physical hug whenever one of your Facebook friends "likes" your status update. And in one of the most unusual stories to flash across our screens this week, a man built a huge floating hamster wheel and used it to walk 66 miles across the Irish Sea. For those who prefer climbing to walking, Brewers Ledge just released the Treadwall M4, which is a vertical treadmill for rock climbers. |
| Bell may get Samsung Galaxy Rugby LTE on November 1st, give Canadians rough and tumble 4G Posted: 14 Oct 2012 04:39 AM PDT
Americans won't get to keep the Galaxy Rugby Pro all to themselves. As long as internal documents gleaned by MobileSyrup prove true, Bell should be carrying Samsung's ruggedized 4G phone as the Galaxy Rugby LTE on November 1st. Other than the name change, it's likely to be a match for the AT&T version down to the very wide frequency support we saw at the FCC, when it appeared as the SGH-i547. You're looking at a modest 4-inch screen, 768MB of RAM and 5-megapixel rear camera, but also a quick 1.5GHz dual-core processor, Android 4.0 and that dust- and waterproof body. Pricing is an unknown, although the partly toned-down features imply that the Galaxy Rugby LTE will skew well below the $160 contract price for a Galaxy S III on Bell's network. |
| Rimac e-M3 breaks EV acceleration records, soon to be dethroned by its own creator (video) Posted: 14 Oct 2012 02:31 AM PDT
The last time we saw an EV pit itself against a BMW, it wasn't a good day for the German car. On this occasion, the beemer is the EV, and it's one that all the others will officially have to enjoy viewing from behind. The car in question is the Rimac e-M3, the fledgling EV-firm owner's personal custom ride, and it's just been officially acknowledged as the fastest accelerating electric vehicle (with some category caveats). The record-breaking run actually happened April 2011, but it seems the FIA isn't quite so fast when it comes to making things official. The Croatian driver covered the first eighth of a mile in 7.549 seconds, needing less than five more for the same distance again (1/4 mile in 11.808 seconds). This is where the official-dom ends, but the total mile was completed in 35.347, which is still pending the FIA nod. Happy as driver Mate Rimac is, he already thinks there's something faster. What might that be? His new pre-production Concept_One of course. Catch the car in action after the break.
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| Verizon Galaxy S III now available in black and brown Posted: 14 Oct 2012 12:23 AM PDT
Verizon teased on Monday that black and brown models of Samsung's Galaxy S III would be coming soon, but mum was the word on exactly how quickly that would be. Turns out, it was real fast. The pair of smartphones are now available at the carrier's online storefront with a $199.99 price tag for those who don't mind a two-year commitment with Big Red. If the new shades strike your fancy, hit the source link below to give one (or two) of the devices a new home. |
| TiVo opens up Developer Channel, lets third parties create apps for your DVR Posted: 13 Oct 2012 10:14 PM PDT
Other than what feels like a very slow pace of updates, one of our gripes with TiVo's Premiere DVR platform has been a relative lack of new apps being released. Hopefully that could change soon, now that the company has opened up its Developer Channel to allow interested parties access to its SDK and tools to build their own apps. Although as our friend Dave Zatz points out, it doesn't guarantee apps will be released even if certified, anyone ready to get down with TiVo's Adobe-based environment should take a peek around. The notes do reveal some interesting details like the fact that only one app can run at a time so when an app is launched the TiVo UI is suspended, and that apps are restricted to 720p resolution only, 32MB of system memory, 20MB graphics memory and 1MB hard drive space quota. We don't know yet what can be constructed with those tools, but go ahead -- surprise us. |
| Ask Engadget: Should I replace my mouse with a graphics tablet? Posted: 13 Oct 2012 08:00 PM PDT
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Whee!, which we guess probably isn't their real name, who is looking for a way to ditch their mouse. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.
Our questioner wants to solve their wrist-pain woes, and it certainly seems like a reasonable enough idea to us. Plenty of tablets come with a mouse mode, so it's just down to the limits of your budget.
That said, perhaps the wider Engadget community has an even better tip, so if you've already made that leap, why not share your knowledge in the comments below? |
| Mobile Miscellany: week of October 8th, 2012 Posted: 13 Oct 2012 06:30 PM PDT
If you didn't get enough in mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Samsung confirmed its Canadian release date for the Galaxy Note II, Alcatel took the wraps off of its first Windows Phone and it was revealed that T-Mobile will no longer openly market the iPhone in conjunction with its BYOD value plans. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of October 8th, 2012. Galaxy Note II confirmed for October 30th arrival in Canada Shortly after Telus tipped the availability date of the Galaxy Note II for its network, Samsung circled back to confirm that its latest phablet would be available in Canada across all national and regional carriers on October 30th. In related news, a listing from Best Buy suggests the device will retail for $150 on a three-year contract with Bell and Telus. While a release date has yet to be established for the US, we expect to learn something definitive at Samsung's October 24th reveal in NYC. [Mobile Syrup 1, 2] BBM tipped to join T-Mobile's unlimited messaging plan Maybe you saw it in the same leak that suggested the Galaxy Note II would arrive at T-Mobile on October 24th, but on the off chance you missed it, the carrier's training docs suggest that, come October 21st, BlackBerry users will be able to use BBM without a data plan, as the service will be covered by the carrier's unlimited messaging plan. No action will be needed on the part of T-Mobile customers, as the service will be automatically added within 24 hours. [TmoNews] Alcatel One Touch View with Windows Phone 7.8 revealed Alcatel's Russian division took the wraps off of its first Windows Phone this week. In what will likely be known as the One Touch View, the handset will sport Windows Phone 7.8 and will offer a 4-inch IPS WVGA display that's accompanied by a 1GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage and a 5-megapixel camera. Pricing is said to not exceed 7,990 rubles, which weighs in at roughly $258. [WMPoweruser, GSM Arena] T-Mobile to curb its iPhone enthusiasm Seeing that T-Mobile doesn't actually sell the iPhone, some may have viewed the the inclusion of Apple's handset in its marketing materials as a bit flagrant. While the carrier will no doubt be glad to continue providing subscribers with nano-SIMs and the like, T-Mobile issued a new edict this week that states neither the iPhone name or its image can be used in sales materials. Likewise, the carrier will shift the focus of its BYOi program to a more generic BYOD nomenclature, although the company will allow its sales associates to give demonstrations of the iPhone on T-Mobile's network. [TmoNews] Garnet Red Galaxy S III makes its way to Canada You already know our stance on the Garnet Red Galaxy S III: it's the smartphone for vampires. Now, however, AT&T's formerly exclusive handset has made its way up north to Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile in Canada. The bloody beautiful creation is available at Bell for $160 on a three-year contract or $650 outright, whereas those wanting to save a few loonies should check out Virgin, which has priced the phone at $100 on a three-year contract and $600 outright. [MobileSyrup] |
| Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon possibly caught stopping by the FCC Posted: 13 Oct 2012 04:18 PM PDT
Just in case you thought Nokia's Lumia 822 for Verizon was an illusion, the FCC has given us good (if not quite smoking gun) evidence that it's tangible. A filing at the agency shows a device that's only listed as the RM-845 on the surface, but has Verizon's CDMA and LTE bands, measurements very close to those of the GSM-based Lumia 820 and a microSD slot that you wouldn't find in a Lumia 920 variant -- short of a surprise new model, there's little beyond the 822 that would currently fit the bill. Those disappointed that it's not a higher-end Lumia might take some consolation in seeing both the expected NFC as well as quad-band HSPA 3G for world roaming. Between the FCC and earlier photos, fans are really just left waiting for Verizon to make this new piece of its Windows Phone revival official, whether it's on October 29th or some other date. |
| Alt-week 10.13.12: is the Universe a simulation, cloning dinosaurs and singing mice Posted: 13 Oct 2012 02:00 PM PDT Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. Are you reading this? Seriously, are you? Sure, we know you think you are, but what if you're just a sub-feature of a complex computer program. A sprite, nothing more than the creation of software. The problem with this question is, how would you ever know? You wouldn't, right? Well, not so fast there. Turns out, maybe there is a way to unravel the matrix (if there is one). It'll come as no surprise, that this is one of the topics in this week's collection of alternative stories. Think that's all we got? Not even close. We'll explore the truth behind cloning dinosaurs, as well a rare performance by singing mice -- all before dinner. Or is it really dinner? This is alt-week. We're not exactly big fans of bugs, but excuse us if we run another roach-related story by you. Scientists have recently discovered a 520 million-year old insect brain. While that's kinda cool in its own right, the fact that it's the oldest arthropod brain ever found, and also believed to be the earliest example of a "modern" brain yet, pushes it up the significance ladder somewhat. The discovery was made in the Yunnan Province, China, and is being considered as major breakthrough in the study of insect evolution. Nicholas Strausfeld, the study's author, highlights that no one was expecting to find a brain as advanced as this so early in the history of multicellular animals. Fuxianhuia protensa, the species of the critter, now suggests that the earliest insects may have evolved from species' that already had a complex brain. Which is more than can be said for everyone. Now if that news has your inner evil-overlord scheming a plot to create a clone army of intelligent prehistoric bugs, sorry, we've got bad news. Scientists have determined that the half-life of DNA is 521 years, effectively ruling out any hopes of creating a clone army of pretty much anything beyond 6.8 million years ago. Even then, it's claimed that DNA would be pretty much unreadable after just 1.5 million years, relatively recent in terms of what's available in your cloning-catalog. Palaeogeneticists at the University of Copenhagen and Michael Bunce at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia determined the half-life after studying a set of 158 DNA-containing bones from an extinct species of bird called "moa" (a feat in and of itself). This collection of remains ranged from 600- to 8,000 years old, but vitally all with a similar state of preservation. Once the sample set had been gathered, the 521 number was reached by comparing states of decay. While this is bad news for anyone claiming to have found DNA in, say an amber-encased mosquito, it does mean that the record for the oldest DNA sample (currently 500,000 years old) can be broken. Okay, so it's not all about deflating your sci-fi balloon, this next story should pump it right back up again. You know those late night existential conversations with friends, that normally involve cats in boxes, and lofty ideas about the whole world being a computer created "matrix." Well, it turns out that second one might actually be provable... in theory at least. Silas Beane and a team from the University of Bonn, Germany think they've worked out a way to uncover any evidence that might hint that you, the world and even Schrödinger's moggy (whether dead alive, or both) are just a simulation. The science, as you can imagine, is a little dense, but involves the requirement of a discrete 3D lattice when simulating the fundamental laws of physics. The spacing on this lattice imposes a fundamental limit on the energy that particles can have. Ergo, if our universe is just a simulation, there should be a cut off in the spectrum of high energy particles, and low and behold, there is -- the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin or GZK cut off. There's even a secondary measurement we can make to further prove the notion, and it can be done with today's technology. There is, of course, one big "but," and that is whether the simulating computer is using a lattice constructed in the same way as the one imagined by the scientists. So, the topic of late night conversations now? Beane's lattice. With such a luxurious platter of philosophical issues on offer this week, we thought it'd be good to see us out with a song. Mouse song, in fact. All in the name of science, naturally. Researchers at Duke University have discovered that, despite strong belief to the contrary, mice do have basic vocal learning ability, allowing them to keep pitch, or to you and me -- sing. It has been long thought that this ability was innate, rather than learned, but the Duke researchers observed the mouse song system and were surprised to see that it included a motor cortex region active during singing. Essentially a neurological link that allows the mice to use auditory feedback to keep a tune. This is unlike other sound-making mechanisms found in other non-human primates. Why would the plucky rodents want to sing? The same reason many humans do, to woo a mate. Sadly, much of this song is way beyond our typical hearing range, but with a little editing (read, slowing down) some of the squeaky-sonnets have been made audible. So, for one night only, take it away guys:
Seen any other far-out articles that you'd like considered for Alt-week? Working on a project or research that's too cool to keep to yourself? Drop us a line at alt [at] engadget [dot] com. [Image credits: Xiaoya Ma, BrockenInaGlory, PLOS] |
I was looking for an iPad case to help me peck out articles on the go, but 
I'm not even sure what happened. One minute, I was dead-set on waiting for one of those hybrid laptop / tablet deals running Windows 8. The next, I was braving a New York City downpour to pick up a MacBook Air. I've been a die-hard Windows user since the 3.1 days: I stuck with it through Vista and I eagerly await 
I admit that when I first wrote about 
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