Hasta La Gadget!

The 12 Lunar Modules that went to the moon cost a total of $2 billion, or almost $17 million apiece. This full-sized replica, from Space Toys, cost just $90,000, making it a bargain.

We imagine that the manufacturing tolerances are less important if you don’t have to actually get the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) to the Moon, but the custom builds are promised to be authentic and can be customized “match a specific lunar lander Apollo Mission”, all of which were different.

Upgrades cost extra, but given that the computers in these landers were outclassed by the average cellphone, just throwing in a PS3 is a significant upgrade. It would also make this the ultimate nerd’s gaming den.

Full Scale Apollo Lunar Lander [Space Toys via Geekologie]

The National Geographic’s Ultimate Factories series keeps on giving. The videos show us the inside workings of factories around the world, and the results are both bite-sized and fascinating. This week, we see how New York’s subway cars are put together. Did you know that the bodies are welded by hand in Lapa, Brazil? Or that the roofs are formed much like those of a warehouse or even a garden shed, with beams that support the corrugated panels? Or that the front face of the car is called the “bonnet”, which is the British name for the hood of an automobile? Me neither.

After the car is finished (but still unfurnished) it gets even better. The car is tested for leaks in an artificial thunder storm, and finally the shell is, amazingly, shrink-wrapped for shipment. Time from steel to shipping? Two months.

Ultimate Factories [National Geographic]

See Also:

• Video: Inside an Ikea Factory

If you need yet more reason to delay purchasing a current generation netbook, we’re hearing that Acer has eagerly scooped up an order for NVIDIA’s Ion 2 chips, which will eventually be found partnering Intel’s forthcoming Pineview hardware in machines of the future. With Intel now integrating graphics processing and the memory controller into the CPU packaging, the Ion 2 is expected to serve much more like a discrete GPU than the Ion chipset of today. Plans to support VIA processors are also still firmly in place, should you wish to experience the improved graphics performance outside of the realm of Lord Intel.

NVIDIA Ion 2 already ordered up by Acer? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s getting harder and harder to pick a smartphone, with options like iPhone OS, WebOS, Android, and Windows Mobile making the choosing difficult. Life would be easier if you could pick two, and that’s what virtualization giant VMware is working on, the ability to run dual OSes in one smartphone. The company already has Android/WinMo and other prototypes running, but phones featuring the tech now aren’t expected to hit market until 2012 — a big delay from the earlier indications of a release this year. Those prototypes rely on ugly boot menus, whereas the vision for this tech would see users switching between environments on the fly, taking and making calls in either whilst juggling chainsaws and dazzling their friends. The company pledges it’ll be a seamless experience, but we’re doubtful given how even stepping out of HTC’s SenseUI into the OS below can occasionally result in mild nausea. The bigger question is who would want this, and it’s easy to think the answer is “basically nobody,” but picture the poor corporate souls who must carry one phone for work and another for play. This tech could finally let them ditch that holster, and wouldn’t the world be a better place then?

VMware wants dual-OS virtualized smartphones, no ugly boot-loaders originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know you’re confused by the pronunciation of Pixel Qi (it’s Pixel chee, by the way). But really, does that matter? We’re just stoked to learn that its hybrid displays are hitting the assembly lines this month as the company ramps production in Q1. CEO, Mary Lou Jepsen, says that the first units will arrive in “specialized tablet devices with multi-touch,” the first of which will be on display at CES from what looks like multiple “customers.” They’ll also be available to DIYers sometime in the future. Jepsen, you’ll recall, was the original Chief Technology Officer on the OLPC project, but left to commercialize these 10-inch color 3Qi LCD displays that are readable in either direct tropical sunlight or no light at all thanks to a switchable backlight. As such, Pixel Qi is set to carve out a nice middle-ground between epaper displays and traditional LCDs that could see the advent of the 40-hour netbook / tablet. No, really.

Pixel Qi ramping production lines, multitouch (40-hour?) tablets at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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