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Archive for August 17th, 2008

Lenovo’s IdeaPad S9 Lite gets a site, more specs, and discounted pricing… in Hong Kong

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 2:09PM
If you’ve been making a mess of the floor (you know, with drool) waiting for Lenovo’s IdeaPad S9 netbook to come flying in your direction, here’s a little something to further whet your appetite. A “Lite” version of the device appears to have gotten official pricing, specs, a site, and apparently a deal if you buy three at once (at least in Hong Kong). The diminutive laptop will feature that Intel N270 Atom CPU (at 1.6GHz) we’ve already heard about, an 8.9-inch SWVGA display, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD, and will apparently utilize a Linux build. That last point is of note as this model was previously believed to be carrying around an install of Windows XP. The new literature also suggests that the S9 (and presumably the S10) will pack a multi-touch trackpad, and be available in white, red, or pink. The S9 Lite will be launched next month, and prices run from HKD 2,899 (about $371) for a single model down to HKD 1,933 ($247) if you pick up three at once. And hey, who doesn’t need three small laptops?

[Thanks, Joe; Via UMPC Fever]

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Filed under: Laptops

British bots battle it out, Army-style

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 4:14PM
Robot designers are currently duking it out for the British army in hopes of nabbing the hearts (and pocketbooks) of the UK’s fighting force. In a makeshift “wartime European village,” scientists and researchers are putting their helper-droids to the test as Army officials look on and investigate how the automatons might serve alongside troops. Some of the robots being looked at include a “Moon buggy” which remotely patrols for enemies via thermal imaging and then sends the data back to a command center, a helicopter that can be maneuvered in tight urban spaces, and a RC car with what appears to be a pile of digicams mounted on top of it. The winners of the competition will be announced Monday, but you can hit the read link and see a video — replete with annoying British television presenter — of some contestants.

[Thanks, Jack]

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Filed under: Robots

Pandora hit with soaring royalty fees; Is shutting down their only option?

Pandora, the ad-supported internet radio service that builds stations off of your personal taste, may be shutting down in the near future.  Due to high royalty costs from the labels, that may be their only option.  According to the Washington Post, Pandora founder Tim Westergren doesn’t seem too confident the company will survive.

“We’re approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision…This is like a last stand for webcasting.”

The Post mentioned that a whopping 70% of Pandora’s $25 Million in revenue this year will go to royalty fees.  Representative Howard L. Berman, a Democrat from California, is attempting to work up a deal between Pandora and SoundExchange, the organization that represents artists and labels.  Lets just hope Berman can get through to them… or we may have to go back to hating the RIAA.

I’m deeply saddened by the fact they may go out of business… and I’m sure their million other users are as well.  So what do you think Pandora should do?  Should they stick it to the RIAA and start playing all indie bands?  Is going out of business really their only option?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Read [Washington Post] Via [ReadWriteWeb]

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Oregon begins building first “solar highway” project

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 9:20AMJust over a year ago, we passed off a far-out proposal that would turn highways into wind farms. Now, however, the state of Oregon is proving that such feats are actually within reach as it breaks ground on the first so-called “solar highway” demonstration project. The project will be installed at the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 interchange in Tualatin, where it will cover around 8,000 square feet and produce 112,000 kilowatt hours per year. The total cost for the 104-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system is $1.3 million, and believe it or not, it should be completed and operational in December of this year.

[Via Digg]

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Filed under: Transportation

Apple trims push notification out of newest iPhone firmware beta

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 11:57AM
According to Appleinsider, the newest beta of iPhone firmware (2.1, beta 4) has been seeded to developers, but takes one crucial element off the table — push notification. If you’ll recall, the new feature will allow third-party developers to take advantage of Apple’s servers for real-time push of data to and from applications. Apparently, the feature has been cut from the most recent beta for “further development” with no indication of when it will be reinstated. Of course, this is a beta seed of the firmware — the actual release is slated for September — and it makes sense that Apple would be tweaking major additions like this before going live, especially considering its recent launch debacles.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Miniature “balancing” robot is sad, hilarious

by Paul Miller, posted Aug 16th 2008 at 10:50PM
What could possibly provide us more joy and mirth than a Segway? How about a Segway-inspired bot that fails spectacularly on a consistent basis? The tech in play here is quite simple, and the fact it can stand as long as it does being that top heavy is actually pretty surprising. The best news? Hit the read link for a guide to making your very own fail bot at home. It’s fun for the whole family.

[Via technabob]

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Filed under: Robots

Indilinx and Mosaid aim to squeeze 600MB/s out of SSDs

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 1:39AMIndilinx just recently caught eyes with its Barefoot solid state drive controller, which has reportedly shown a read speed of 230MB/sec. Merely days later, it’s already talking about the next best thing. Said firm, along with Mosaid, is preparing for a third-generation of the controller for the SATA 3 interface, which will provide a mind-boggling 600MB/sec. Unfortunately, no other details were provided, but just in case you were terrified that the internal drive you purchase in 2013 wouldn’t transfer files any faster than the one you’re using now, at least you’ve one less worry on your mind.

[Thanks, Johnny]

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Filed under: Storage

Indilinx and Mosaid aim to squeeze 600MB/s out of SSDs

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 17th 2008 at 1:39AMIndilinx just recently caught eyes with its Barefoot solid state drive controller, which has reportedly shown a read speed of 230MB/sec. Merely days later, it’s already talking about the next best thing. Said firm, along with Mosaid, is preparing for a third-generation of the controller for the SATA 3 interface, which will provide a mind-boggling 600MB/sec. Unfortunately, no other details were provided, but just in case you were terrified that the internal drive you purchase in 2013 wouldn’t transfer files any faster than the one you’re using now, at least you’ve one less worry on your mind.

[Thanks, Johnny]

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Filed under: Storage

BOOM! Top Apple news for the week of 8-10-2008

We may not cover Apple 24×7… but we know someone who does!  Here’s a few of this week’s hottest from Appletell to get you started…

  • iPhone 3G has a bad 3G chipset?
  • Jobs clears up some App Store mysteries, confirms kill…lever?
  • The Mojave Experiment: manipulation at its finest
  • Some thoughts on Apple’s relationship with Microsoft
  • The numbers are in, suggest the iPhone 3G is kinda sorta popular

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Sprint beginning to roll out application updates for the Instinct

We have recently seen a firmware update come for the Instinct that offered some notable improvements for items such as increasing the audio volume when using Bluetooth, as well as improvements to the signal and battery indicators and the web browser.

With that update having been rolled out, it seems Sprint decided it was time to begin rolling out some individual updates for applications.

These new updates will not be coming all as one big package but instead on a case by case basis, so expect to be prompted to download and install an update when launching apps in the short term future. The updates are going to include Picture Mail, the web browser, Sprint TV and Radio, Sprint Navigation, Sprint Email, Sprint Music Store, Visual Voicemail and Mobile Sync.

Read [InstinctInsight] Via [Mobile Burn]

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