Hasta La Gadget!

(Credit: CNET)

The state of California is mulling over new legislation that will prevent sales of TVs that don’t meet a relatively stringent energy efficiency requirement. Most TVs CNET has tested fail to meet the requirement today, although the standard as currently proposed won’t go into effect until 2011.

According to its FAQ, the California Energy Commission plans to vote on the proposal this summer. The most recent draft of the proposal (PDF) puts forth the specific power-efficiency requirements, based on watts-per-square-inch of screen, in a tiered approach. Tier 1 would go into effect in 2011, while the stricter Tier 2 would hit in 2013. There’s also an alternate, more lenient version of Tier 1 included in the proposal. Televisions that fail the requirement would be ineligible for sale in the state.

Digging into the proposal, we found that it’s significantly more-aggressive than the current voluntary Energy Star 3.0 program, for which nearly every new HDTV qualifies. Among LCD TVs we tested in 2008, 19 out of 39, or exactly half, fail the requirement for 2011, while all but two fail for 2013. Among plasmas all but 3 out of 23 fail. Check out the chart below for specifics.

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Here we go: Apple’s just announced that its Worldwide Developers Conference will take place June 8-12 in San Francisco. If you’ll recall, last year’s WWDC was where a little gadget called the iPhone 3G made its appearance, and we’d say chances are good we’ll see new hardware this year as well — especially since there’d be no bigger way for Steve Jobs to make his planned June return to the company. Also on the list of expected attendees? Snow Leopard, possibly with a revised interface. It should be a big one — you know we’ll be digging for all the info we can get in the leadup, so keep it locked.

Update: Jobs said he’d be out until the “end of June,” of course. Still, we’ve got a feeling he’d want to be involved in any iPhone hardware announcements. We’ll see!

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Apple announces WWDC 2009 dates; iPhone, Snow Leopard countdowns begin originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may have heard of Vuzix eyewear as a way to watch big-screen video from your portable media player, but a new Vuzix kit will bring virtual reality to your everyday life.

The Vuzix Augmented Reality Accessory Kit, which works with the VR920 eyewear ($349.95), debuted at the 2009 Game Developer Conference in San Francisco. The kit consists of the CamAR, a clip-on USB camera that attaches to the front of the VR920, and the PhasAR, an input device that you hold in one hand. The camera lets you see what’s around you, while the PhasAR tells the software how you’re interacting with the real and virtual worlds.

Depending on what software is written for the kit, it could provide a variety of heightened experiences. The test software currently being showcased lets participants read a fantasy book while a dragon flies overhead. The input controller could be used as a magic wand, allowing users to be the wizard they’ve always dreamed of being. A PR person suggested that a city might create software for the kit, allowing people to take self-guided tours of different neighborhoods.

The kit isn’t on sale yet, but will be by the end of the summer, and will cost about $100. Note that it will work only with the VR920. Vuzix will release the SDK next month, so interested developers can start creating jaw-dropping virtual experiences.

Kevin Rose has some Tesla Model S imagery up on his Flickr account, including the first unshrouded pictures of the car, along with a rather wild interior shot. The all-electric sedan is styled beautifully — if rather predictably — but things start to get weird on the inside. In what looks to be a concept car mockup of the interior, there appears to be a large touchscreen taking the place of the entire center console, wrapped irregularly by dashboard padding. The instruments panel also appears to be a screen, though it could just be a mockup at this stage. Concept cars typically have rather strange and unlikely interiors compared to their tame street-legal counterparts, but even so, if this indeed isn’t some sort of cruel Photoshop trickery, we’d say Tesla really outdid itself here. Besides, who needs safe, tactile ways of adjusting climate and audio settings when you’re living life this large?

[Via Autoblog Spanish]

Filed under: Displays, Transportation

Tesla Model S official shots unofficially unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference, where we’re likely to see all of Snow Leopard’s spots and maybe a new iPhone to go with iPhone 3.0 OS, will take place from June 8-12. [Apple – Thanks Justin!]