Hasta La Gadget!

GM and Segway have announced the Project P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility & Accessibility) prototype, a two-passenger version of the famous Segway that can reach speeds of up to 35 mph and last from 25 to 35 miles on a single charge.

“We are excited to be working together to demonstrate a dramatically
different approach to urban mobility,” said Jim Norrod, CEO of Segway, in a statement. “There’s an emotional connection you get when using Segway
products. The Project P.U.M.A. prototype embodies this completely
through the combination of dynamic stabilization, seamless
drive-by-wire controls, and sophisticated battery systems to complete
the connection between the rider, environment, and others.”

It costs about 60 cents worth of electricity to recharge the lithium-ion batteries in the prototype. The vehicle also features regenerative braking, zero emissions operation, and a turning radius of zero, indicating that it can spin around in place.

Were the vehicle ever to go into production, there’s no word yet on how much it would cost, though both companies theorize that it would “probably [be] less than most current small car prices.” For more information, check out the prototype site at www.segway.com/puma.

Japan’s KDDI au has long been famous for its Design Project handsets — some of which have made the leap from concept to production — and the CDMA carrier is looking to ramp up its fashion street cred with the creation of an entire brand dedicated to those oh-so-special models. iida is launching with five models out of the gate: the G9 from Sony Ericsson and misora (neither of which are particularly Earth-shattering in their design) along with three stunners from celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. These are pretty… shall we say, “interesting” handsets, owing in no small part to their in-your-face polka dot design (Kusama’s trademark, it seems) — but what’s more, one of the three docks to a sculpture of a dog and another is the shape of a miniature handbag for the ladies. Continuing with the bizarre theme, iida is selling a unique charger whose cord looks like an ivy vine — must be an eco-friendly unit, otherwise the irony is overwhelming — and a pico projector using TI’s DLP tech that’ll connect to your handset for that impromptu presentation on the go. Check out a gallery of some of iida’s wares below.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Video

KDDI au unveils iida sub-brand for high design originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba is back and ready to make good on some of the higher end HDTVs promised at CES, after showing off the energy efficient C8000 REGZA LCDs, it’s time for the 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio local dimming LED backlit ZX8000 (labeled SV670 in the U.S.) series. These also pack the latest edition of Super Resolution+ upconverting, ClearScan 240Hz motion and fifth generation Pixel Pure image processing. We’ve heard those picture quality claims and seen the (sometimes controversial) results before, but a few features anyone can appreciate are InstaPort HDMI for lagless switching between inputs and AutoView calibration for room lighting conditions. Add-on hard disk drives are also available, and the ZX8000 models are expected in late June / early July for 46- and 55-inch models topping out around 600,000 ($5,944.) Willing to live without LED backlighting, 240Hz or other bullet points? The ZH8000, Z8000 and H8000 models are ready and waiting for appropriately lower prices.

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Toshiba matches prices, ship dates to LED backlit REGZA LCDs in Japan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blockbuster just disclosed to the SEC there is “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue breathing, since there are no assurances it can meet the conditions of a $250 million loan that’s its current lifeline.

And even if the loan keeps going it still not “may not have sufficient liquidity to finance the ongoing obligations of our business, which raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.”

So, uh, who didn’t see this coming? Unlike Circuit City though, this doesn’t exactly make me sad. [MSNBC via Technologizer, Image CipherSwarm/Flickr]

Not sure if you’ve been keeping tabs, but it’s been just shy of a full year since we’ve seen a new piece of hardware from the labs of Data Robotics. 60,000 Drobos later, we’re being formally introduced to the bigger, stronger and more capacious DroboPro. As the name implies, this 8-bay beast is truly aimed at small businesses and creative professionals, but there’s nothing here that the average consumer can’t fall in love with. Generally speaking, everything here has remained the same as the second-gen Drobo: it looks similar, it uses the same genius BeyondRAID intelligent data storage technology and it’s not really meant to be used on networks. Interested to hear more? Hop on past the break for all the dirt.

Continue reading Data Robotics goes large with 8-bay DroboPro

Filed under: Storage

Data Robotics goes large with 8-bay DroboPro originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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