Alright, so we’re going to go ahead and caution against buying anything that claims to have a “dual Bluetooth” module, but if you’re feeling froggy, the planet’s first (and probably last) dual CPU netbook has just been launched. Not dual core, mind you, but dual processor. The admittedly chintzy looking Swordfish Net 102 Dual claims to have a pair of 1.6GHz Atom N270s within, not to mention 2GB of DDR2 RAM, optional WWAN, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 10.2-inch display (1,024 x 600 resolution), a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP runnin’ the show. It’s available to order for the low, low price of $449, though we wouldn’t expect the stock 3-cell battery to last very long (read: an hour) with a pair of CPUs sucking down juice.

[Via Wired]

Filed under: Laptops

Swordfish Net 102 Dual: the first netbook with twin Atom CPUs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Mmm, pancakes. While mothers might be responsible for giving us our first taste, it’s the humble robot that makes these golden-brown discs of battered splendor available for mass market binging. A promotional video from ABB Robotics shows how its FlexPicker robots installed at a HoneyTop foods facility can accelerate production while simultaneously improving hygienic conditions. Four gigabit Ethernet cameras are mounted in front of each robot to locate the pancakes running down the conveyor belt. Software grants the bots to recognize and grab overlapping pancakes and then stack the ‘cakes for easy packing. A software reconfig allows for quick production changes from pancakes to pretty much anything the robot can grasp including Soylent Green ration wafers. The video starts slow, but delivers with an impressive 400 pancakes per minute sorting routine — see it after the break.

[Via Make:]

Continue reading Video: ABB FlexPicker replaces human pancake pickers with amazing effect

Filed under: Robots

Video: ABB FlexPicker replaces human pancake pickers with extraordinary effect originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Handsets, LG, GSM, EDGE

Gotta hand it to LG, it pulled out the massive hitting hyperbole with the launch of its otherwise simplistic GD510 touchscreen phone. LG begins with a reminder that it launched “the world’s first full touchscreen phone” — the Prada — back in January 2007. A claim that Ericsson, Nokia, and others would rightfully dispute. LG then calls the brushed-aluminum GD510, or “Pop,” the “most compact 3-inch full touchscreen phone ever made,” while boasting of its simplicity. That latter claim is reached by removing “unnecessary features” that apparently include burdensome WiFi and 3G radios since modern consumers want to browse the web over GPRS/EDGE. Spec-wise, you get a WQVGA (note the “Q”) display, 3 megapixel camera, 8GB of internal memory, and a single home key that glows green to call or red to hang-up / cancel. They’ve also ditched the S-Class UI in favor of something that’s presumably less convoluted. There’s even an optional solar-panel battery cover which we hear is the number one requested feature on touchscreen phones… right. It does look pretty though, which is saying a lot for a phone packing a solar panel. Hitting Europe in mid October and the US at the end of October if the Bluetooth SIG entry is to be believed. Video promo after the break.

— Bluetooth SIG
— LG press release

Continue reading Video: LG GD510 touchscreen ‘Pop’ is heavy on hype, light on specs

Video: LG GD510 touchscreen ‘Pop’ is heavy on hype, light on specs originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Look, we admit it: Honda’s U3-X unicycle gave us a bit of a chuckle when we first peeped the video last week. Now look at this, just look at it! Not only does the Honda EV-N Concept steal all the ideal retro styling from the classic Fiat 500 (or Honda 600 closer to home), it also integrates the miniscule U3-X electric transporter directly into its passenger door frame — adding an additional 22-pounds, at least, in the process. Oh, and this tiny guy’s electric with a solar roof panel. The EV-N will makes its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show next month where we hope to give it a great massive hug just for showing up. A few more photos after the break, fully gallery just beyond that read link.

Continue reading Honda EV-N Concept tucks U3-X personal transporter inside door

Filed under: Transportation

Honda EV-N Concept tucks U3-X personal transporter inside door originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Industry, Cable, Satellite, New content

Once upon a time, a smattering of new HD channels in one major metropolitan area was a big deal. Nowadays, it’s almost expected that one area or another will experience some HD expansion each week. In order to keep things nice and tidy around here, we deliver high-def expansions, market expansions and anything else dealing with HD channel growth right here. If we missed an area that you’re familiar with, drop us a line in comments so everyone can catch up. The more the merrier, we state! (Links continue after the break)

- Dish Network Adds 2 More HD Markets
- Comcast Boosts HD, Switches Basic Cable Channels to Digital (Michigan)
- Pace Connects Set-Tops With Rovi
- Valley TeleCom offers HD Television channels
- AT&T U-verse Arrives in Mobile
- DIRECTV Delivers Local HD Programming to Customers in Lexington, Ky.
- Comcast Boosts HD To 100+ Channels In Western Wayne (Michigan)
- Outdoor Channel Broadens Distribution in Oregon and Washington Markets Through Comcast…
- Mega TV Is the First Spanish-Language Network to Launch Its High Definition Service on the Comcast System in South Florida

Continue reading HD channel expansion roundup

HD channel expansion roundup originally appeared on Engadget HD on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Via [apple.qj.net]

Popularity: 2% [?]

Oy vey! This day must be some industry-wide Windows 7 announcement day, as Panasonic is hot on the heels of Dell and Toshiba with no less than six lappies set to sport Vista’s agile younger sibling. The Let’s Note (ToughBook, to you and us) F8, R8, T8 and W8 models are likely to take on the new OS without alterations to their hardware, but the hot news comes in the form of the brand new N8 and S8. Powered by Core 2 Duo P8700 chips, both machines will come with 12.1-inch WXGA LCD screens, 250GB HDDs, up to 4GB of RAM, WiMAX, WiFi, HDMI and SDHC connectivity. They also share a stonking claim of 16 hours of battery life, and the one feature that distinguishes between them is the internal DVD burner on the S8. All that goodness will be out come October 22, with expected pricing around

Popularity: 2% [?]

Accordions and robots don’t seem to have much in common — although an accordion-playing robot would make for a killer Weird Al song. Nevertheless, the RAPHaEL hand showed that push-box tech can make for some impressively limber fingers. Now the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory has created its successor, the RAPHaEL 2, and it too has already won an award. This time it grabbed top honors at the ASME Student Mechanism and Robot Design Competition with its air-powered digits, which now use a closed loop control mechanism and more advanced data acquisition hardware from National Instruments, enabling it to superior sense what it’s groping and to adjust pressure accordingly. It’s also made of a more durable polycarbonate, but a carbon fiber version is said to be in the works, which should look completely awesome.

Filed under: Robots

Second-generation air-powered robot hand gets more sensitive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Software, Nokia, Symbian

One of the purely theoretical benefits of an on-device app store is that you don’t need to worry about archiving and managing apps you’ve bought in the past — your download and purchase histories are magically managed up in the cloud, and if you need anything again in the future, it’s there waiting for you. After all, you’ve already bought and paid for the goods — the least they can do is let you grab the software at your leisure, right? Well, Nokia’s Ovi Store has suffered more than its fair share of growing pains as it seeks to take the unified app management strategy to S60 and Series 40, and one of the biggest pain points has been the Store’s iron-clad unwillingness to let folks download their stuff a second time; that’s finally being fixed, though, and it seems that the new policy has apps tied to a user’s account rather than the device itself, which is exactly how it should be. Things seem to be a bit wonky at the moment — not all content can be re-downloaded and getting the re-downloads to even work at all requires a delicate balance of “right” software and hardware — but it’s a step in the right direction.

Ovi Store loosens the leash a bit, grants re-downloads originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Filed under: Blu-ray, Other hardware, Set-top boxes

Intel’s CE3100 media chip has been behind some of the cooler demos they’ve done here at IDF, and it’s just gotten a massive brother, the Atom CE4100. As you’d expect, the big change is the replacement of the CE3100’s Pentium M core with an Atom core, but this thing is actually kind of a monster — it can decode two 1080p video streams with various high-end audio codecs, it adds MPEG-4 support and 3D graphics capability, and it can even capture uncompressed 1080p video. Of course, it’s up to manufacturers and cable companies to actually put all this power to use, but Intel’s promised us some hardware demos from partners — stay tuned.

Continue reading Intel announces Atom CE4100 for insanely powerful cable boxes and Blu-ray players

Intel announces Atom CE4100 for insanely powerful cable boxes and Blu-ray players originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: 1% [?]