Via [apple.qj.net]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Fujistu-Siemens in the UK has recently announced their Lifebooks4Life program, which at first sounds a bit like some sort of gang tattoo, but turns out to be a new program that entitles you to a new laptop of the same value (adjusted 10 percent for inflation) each three years for the rest of your life. Allowed, you’ll be obliged to purchase a three year warranty with each new machine, and the machine must remain in warranty (you know what that means — no cheap, off-brand RAM upgrades and completely no mods). But still — a new notebook every three years for the price of a warranty? This doesn’t sound like a disaster waiting to happen. Not at all. And one more caveat: you can’t pass this contract on to your next of kin. Those of you in high-risk professions — Dare Devils, Soldiers of Fortune, and contributing editors at Engadget — might want to pass this one up.

Filed under: Laptops

Fujitsu-Siemens offers Lifebook4Life laptop replacement warranty, has some land in Florida it would like to sell you originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Nov 2008 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Robots

Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Displays, Other hardware

If Embedded Automation’s mPanel is the exception to high priced touch panels, ELAN’s XP-8.4 is the rule. Allowed, it does feature an 8.4-inch touch screen and it doesn’t have to be mounted in your wall, but $3,350 is a lot of scratch no matter how you spin it. The WiFi-enabled device is now shipping (months ahead of schedule, mind you) to dealers, and aside from controlling just about every aspect of your digital home, users can also browse the web (Flash support included!) on the unit itself. It comes bundled with a tabletop docking / recharging cradle with Ethernet / USB ports and a built-in rechargeable battery pack, but it’s too bad that the picture above is about as close as we’ll ever get to owning one.

ELAN ships $3,350 XP-8.4 WiFi touch panel originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Sprint, EV-DO, MVNOs, CDMA, Misc, LTE

We know, you’re just dying to state this is a complete shock, but we’re here to inform you that it’s not. If you’ll recall, Cox dug deep to snatch up a decent block of spectrum in this year’s 700MHz auction, and it even went so far as to promise a differentiated product that would eventually integrate with its other content and services. Sure enough, it’s keeping its word. After spending $500 million on wireless capacity in its markets, president Pat Esser says it’s time to turn things on. By relying on Cox’s own 3G network (along with Sprint’s, initially), the carrier will offer up an undisclosed amount of handsets that will “include a network address book that automatically synchronizes with home PCs” and grant remote programming of one’s DVR. Furthermore, users will be able to access e-mail and voicemail that they receive at home right on their mobile, and ideally, subscribers could watch TV shows right on their handsets. Get ready for an awkward new rival in the wireless space beginning, um, anytime now.

Cox to enter cellphone biz, link handsets to other cable-related services originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 09:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid

We last heard of the Mindset electric sportscar in February of this year, so when we saw an update (even just a mild one) of the hybrid vehicle, we decided to share it with you. First, the car’s got a name now: E-Motion. Clever, right? ‘E’ is for electric, we’d envision, while the Motion part seems pretty self-explanatory. There don’t seem to be any real changes made to the body’s overall design, which strikes us as a unique blend of modern Karmann Ghia, especially up front, and the shooting brake syle that’s become so popular on concepts these last few years.

Power comes from a 94-horsepower electric motor along with a small 24-horse gasoline-powered V2 engine. Lithium ion batteries of untold capacity hold the electrons. An extremely light weight - just 800kg (1764 lbs) - ensures sporty driving dynamics and acceleration on par with sportscar rivals such as the Lotus Elise. Starting in ‘09, 10,000 examples are scheduled to be built with a price of €50,000. There’s a video of the E-Motion pasted after the break for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

[Source: Piston Heads]

Continue reading Swiss E-Motion hybrid to launch in ‘09

Swiss E-Motion hybrid to launch in ‘09 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Via [autobloggreen]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Intel’s never made a secret of the fact that it developed the now-ubiquitous Atom chipset primarily for mobile devices and low-powered netbooks for at emerging markets, so it’s not totally surprising to hear Intel sales VP Stu Pann say the company doesn’t see netbooks as potentially cannibalizing sales of its existing processors — but we’re a bit intrigued by his seeming dismissal of netbooks as everyday machines. According to Stu, a netbook with a 10-inch screen is “fine for an hour. It’s not something you’re going to use day in and day out.” That’s probably true, of course, but it’s harsher language than we’ve heard from Intel in the past — and it’s more or less in line with AMD’s recent decision to ignore netbooks entirely in favor of more capable machines “above that form factor.” Of course, Intel execs can pretty much say whatever they want as long as the company is basically the only player in the netbook game, but we think a lot of people actually are willing to use a netbook as their primary machine, especially in this economy. Could you handle a netbook as your daily driver? The comment box awaits.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Filed under: Laptops

Intel VP says netbooks are “fine for an hour” originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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Here’s another cool app for the Apple iPhone: LiveCLIQ, an app that lets you record videos and then either upload or stream them to the LiveCLIQ website. To do that, you just need to record a video using LiveCLIQ and then sync it. You can even record a few videos and then sync them all at the same time. Once they’re synced, you can choose to upload or stream them to the LiveCLIQ website at livecliq.net. The app works with both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G (as well as a host of other mobile phones). You can download it for free through Cydia, but you’ll have to sign up for an account on the LiveCLIQ website in order to begin using it. Related articles: vlc4iphone v0.9.5 (Formerly ZodPlay): Media streaming added

Via [apple.qj.net]

Popularity: 1% [?]

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Robots

Oh Rolly… we know you’re an overpriced, 2GB dancing robot with convoluted controls and questionable sound quality. But dammit, your impractical, big-corporate ways have gnawed a soft-spot deep into the noxious cesspool we call a heart. Now this: Rolly model SEP-50BT with Bluetooth control from your cellphone or laptop. Shipping in Japan on November 21st for an expected

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Industry, Cable, Fiber

When people think of fiber to the home, they usually think of FiOS. This is a good thing for Verizon since they’ve successfully bet the farm on the concept. But meanwhile, most traditional cable providers are steaming because they’ve been laying fiber since the 80’s and just now realized they forgot to market that fact to the consumer. You see most customers don’t realize that the primary difference between most cable providers and FiOS, is where the fiber ends — and that FiOS uses IPTV for VOD. While cable companies select to use fiber to the neighborhood, Verizon took it all the way to the side of your house. The part that surprises most, is that like cable companies, FiOS uses the very same coax cables to get into your house; in fact these days, the web access even terminates with a cable modem. But of course having fiber run all the way to your customer’s homes still gives FiOS a throughput advantage. The cable industry realizes this and apparently already has plans to extend the fiber — which currently is about three blocks from your home — all the way to your home. Anyway you slice this, the competition is good for us, and we have the ability to only hope that after both the telecom and cable industries offer comparable services, that the focus will turn to customer service, where they both have a long way to go.

Cable’s fiber to the home plan is well underway originally appeared on Engadget HD on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]