Tag Archives: Technology

GM’s Awesome Augmented Reality Windshield [VIDEO]

We love technology that makes us feel like we’re living in the future. Case in point: General Motors has been working with several universities to develop a working next-generation heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard. Such a system can improve safety and advance knowledge behind the wheel, visually identifying important objects in physical space like road signs and the edges of the road you’re on in conditions of poor visibility.
Posted in Mashable | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Windows Phone 7 Series: the complete guide

After Windows Phone 7 Series' grand unveiling at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress last month, Microsoft has circled back over the last several days during GDC and its own MIX10 conference to fill in many of the holes in this story -- in particular, details around the app development ecosystem and how third parties can take full advantage of it have been focal points. Of course, it makes sense: a modern smartphone is only as good as its software catalog, and Redmond's clearly keen to show that it knows how very true that is. XNA -- the technology that underpins Zune games and a host of Xbox content -- figures prominently into the equation, but Silverlight is a huge, unavoidable component as well, making development for WP7S devices a starkly different experience for studios and independent code monkeys than in versions prior. We're going to be periodically updating this post as we get new info on the platform, but for now, follow the break for everything you need to know -- so far -- about Microsoft's latest and greatest mobile platform. Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series: the complete guide Windows Phone 7 Series: the complete guide originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Panasonic’s portable Digital Viera TVs handle more than prime time

The whole portable TV thing never really caught on in the States, so we're left looking longingly from afar at offerings like the Panasonic DMP-HV100 and DMP-BV200. Both are 10.1-inch sets that sport 1024 x 600 resolutions and, while either can tune DTV over the airwaves, they can also connect wirelessly (with an optional WiFi dongle) to a Panasonic DVR and stream content. The 200 model can also act as a sort of bulky PMP, playing back a variety of media formats from an SD card, including DivX and H.264. It's good stuff, but there's no price attached and, at this point, no release date either -- not that they're likely to ever hit the US, anyway. Panasonic's portable Digital Viera TVs handle more than prime time originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:05:00 EST
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

F-35B supersonic jet’s first mid-air hover (video)

VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) is no great shakes in a wargadget these days -- and a craft like the F-35B, with its short-take off and vertical-landing capabilities might be even less shocking -- but jets that stop whatever they're doing mid-air to just hover awhile? That's another story entirely. The $83 million-plus, supersonic stealth jet did just that yesterday, according to Lockheed Martin . The flight began with a conventional takeoff and the aircraft hit about 200 knots before the pilot switched her into STOVL, culminating in a zero airspeed hover 150 feet above the runway. This is the first "mid-air hover" by the aircraft, and if development continues at the pace most of these programs do it should see active service sometime around Engadget's 25th birthday
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Viv magazine iPad concept is sin city, man (video)

Want to get our attention in a hurry? Tip us on a digital magazine concept for the iPad that combines footage captured by a prototype RED Epic Mysterium-X inside of a Frank Miller style, noir hellscape. Of course, just because it was created for the iPad doesn't mean that the concept isn't applicable to any of the hundreds ( not an exaggeration ) of tablet devices destined to arrive over the next year. The feature concept, created by Alexx Henry and Andrew Grant together with co-directors Cory Strassburger and Ming Hsiung, redefines the art of infotainment
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Verizon’s Incredible new phone may be in stores within ‘two weeks’

It's a mighty aggressive schedule for a handset that hasn't even been announced yet , but the latest scuttlebutt regarding the HTC Incredible suggests that the phone will make its debut on Verizon's airwaves about two weeks from now. It was already known that the Incredible was destined for a rendezvous with Big Red, but this latest word solidifies and specifies that future nicely -- and it's claimed to come directly from internal sources at Verizon. There's also further mention of 512MB of DRAM allied to a downclocked Snapdragon CPU (capable of 1GHz, running at 768MHz), an 8 megapixel camera, a 1,300 mAh battery, and body dimensions almost indistinguishable from those belonging to the Nexus One. Good thing too, since Verizon is still keeping us waiting on a mysterious Spring release of Google's own-brand phone.
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kindle for Mac now finally available

With not so much as a hint of fanfare (and a very loose definition of " coming soon "), Amazon has quietly unleashed its Kindle app for Mac. The 22MB file is for Intel-based machines only, OS X 10.5 and above. Nothing too fancy, it does exactly what you'd expect in terms of functionality... and not much else.
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Windows Phone 7 Series’ cutting room floor is an extravaganza of bright colors and chunky fonts

It's hard to argue that Windows Phone 7 Series' Metro UI concept isn't utterly unique in the mobile world, but it was wasn't the only option Microsoft considered -- far from it, in fact. The company has published a bunch a design concepts it churned through on its wild, wacky journey to finalizing Metro as we know it today, and one thing's for certain: they'd clearly planned on simple, square lines, partially-obscured typography, and in-your-face colors pretty much from day one. After careful consideration of everything they've got here, we still think we like the production design best, but that's kind of besides the point -- why, pray tell, couldn't these have just been user-selectable themes? Windows Phone 7 Series' cutting room floor is an extravaganza of bright colors and chunky fonts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:02:00 EST.
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Microprocessor mega-shocker: self-assembling silicon chips could lead to ever smaller circuitry

Researchers have been hard at work for the past few years trying to build computer chips using self-assembling circuitry built of molecules -- meaning that they're incredibly teensy. Some researchers at MIT seem to have gotten the hang of this nano-business, according to a paper just published in Nature and Nanotechnology (which also happens to be our favorite magazine after Offset Print Enthusiast ). They've made a pretty good leap forward recently, by using electron-beam lithography to make patterns of nano-posts on a silicon chip, which are deposited with special polymers, resulting in a hookup between the polymer and the posts which arrange themselves into useful patterns all on their own.
Posted in Technology | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blockbuster OnDemand Coming to Windows Mobile Classic and Android

On March 24, T-Mobile will be releasing the HTC HD2 Windows Mobile smartphone. While this phone will not be upgradeable to Windows Phone 7 Series , it will be the first mobile phone that will feature the Blockbuster OnDemand service. ReadWriteWeb also reports that Blockbuster is planning on bringing OnDemand to the Android platform as well, for use on “select Motorola phones.” Blockbuster OnDemand is basically like Amazon Unbox (the download version).
Posted in Mashable | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment