Hasta La Gadget!

While we’re primed and ready for Android to take over the mobile marketplace, it looks like Steve Horowitz, Google’s engineering director for the upstart OS, has other thoughts — he’s bailing out for Coupons, Inc. Yep, it’s a coupons site. We have no idea why Horowitz thinks a company working on a “digital coupons and promotions platform” is more exciting that leading Android’s development, but he’s certainly jumped ship before — he started his career in Apple’s Macintosh group before a stint at Be, and prior to taking the reins at Google he was on the teams at Microsoft that shipped Windows Media Center Edition, UltimateTV, and WebTV. We’ll be honest, those all sound infinitely more interesting than doling out coupons, but maybe dude just really loves typing in instant savings codes. As for Android, it doesn’t sound like Andy Rubin’s going anywhere, so we’re certain work will continue with nary a hiccup — or at least we’re hoping it does, because we’re getting pretty hungry for some Cupcake.

[Via Electronista]

Filed under: Cellphones

Google’s Android Engineering Director leaves for… Coupons, Inc. originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Inhabitat: During the week long installation, local residents were asked to consume less, unplug their electrical appliances, and then watch the green cloud grow! HeHe explained; “No other space, network, grid, community could better represent a city and it’s activity as a whole. The physical dimension of the Salmisaari site, inhabits a special position in Helsinki; physically, visually and metaphorically. The vertical vectors of the architecture connect the underworld with the sky: the underground coal storage tunnels descend to 126m below sea level (the deepest point in Helsinki) whilst it’s chimney reaches 155m into the sky with its cloud disappearing into the lower atmosphere.”

In May 2008, Nuage Vert was awarded the 01SJ Green Prix for Environmental Art at the second edition of 01SJ Festival in San Jose. A month later in June, the project also won the 2008 Ars Electronica Golden Nica.

Nuage Vert “Green Cloud” Illuminates Emissions [Inhabitat]

This iShelf design by Li Jianye takes the iTunes Cover Flow idea and brings it to real life. Think about it too hard and you might notice its small inadequacies (it can only hold five jewel cases and doesn’t rotate), but it’s the cleverly ironic idea that counts, right? Plus, you can put it on your shelf and brag to your Mac friends that you don’t need the PC version of iTunes to make you happy. The iShelf is currently still in the prototype stages of design and might never see the light of day.

More pics after the jump.

…

Oh sure, there’s all manners of garb and chocolates that you could get your lover this Valentine’s Day, but the true geek knows just how hard it is to pick up those all-too-clichéd items when it’s a gadget you’re really after. Enter MSI, who has just delivered the appropriately named Valentine Edition of its Wind U100 netbook just in time for that special holiday. If you’ll recall, this isn’t the first time MSI has outed a minuscule laptop oozing with romance, but this one boasts a limited edition label (figuratively, at least), a 6-cell battery, 160GB hard drive and a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor. You can purchase 2.6 pounds of lovey-dovey right now for $429.99, but you better act fast — no lady worth having will accept the “my UPS guy didn’t come through” excuse. The full release is after the break.

Continue reading MSI Wind U100 Valentine Edition: geek romance, exemplified

Filed under: Laptops

MSI Wind U100 Valentine Edition: geek romance, exemplified originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

AMD’s been looking to sell off its handheld graphics business since July, and it looks like it’s finally found a buyer in Qualcomm. The $65M deal announced today is already approved, and Qualcomm is planning on hiring key design and development people from AMD — some nice news amid the most recent round of layoffs at the struggling chipmaker. We’ll see if this cash infusion helps AMD get back to its feet — and, on the flipside, if the tech infusion helps Qualcomm actually do something with Snapdragon except demo clunky vaporware prototypes.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

AMD sells handheld graphics unit to Qualcomm for $65M originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments