Some concept cars may just be for show, but not Peugeot’s all-electric EX1. It made its debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show and has continued to be fine-tuned by the automaker ever since — work that has now paid off in the form of a new lap record for electric vehicles at Germany’s Nürburgring circuit. Despite “unfavorable” weather conditions, the car managed to post a lap time of 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds (with an average speed of 85.9 miles per hour), which handily beat the previous record of 9:51 set by a modified Mini E last year. Unfortunately, that record doesn’t mean Peugeot is any closer to actually selling one of these — the car was primarily created to celebrate the automaker’s 200th anniversary.
Lenovo’s long awaited LePad finally made its Chinese debut back in March, and while we may not ever see the tablet stateside — not as LePad, anyway — we can at least get a peak under the hood. Thanks to a teardown by IMP3, we’re seeing the inside of the machine for the first time, and while there’s not much in the way of surprises here, it’s always nice to see what makes these things tick. As we already knew, LePad’s packing the 1.3GHz Snapdragon chipset with Adreno 205 integrated graphics as well as an internal 27Wh battery. It’s also appears to be rocking Toshiba flash memory and a Wolfson audio processor. So we might not have much in the way of revelations here, but at least now you know what the LePad, or Skylight, or whatever, looks like underneath its skin.
U.S. carriers have started blocking an app that allows Android smartphone users free wireless tethering for other web-ready devices.
The application, “Wireless Tether for Root Users,” is still available on the Android Market. But if you have a phone that’s on the Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile networks, you won’t be able to download or install it.
Try and access the app from the Android Market, and when prompted to choose a device on which to install it, you’ll only be able to select Sprint-carried devices or Wi-Fi–only products.
Wired.com attempted to install the application on a number of devices, and was able to do so only on a Sprint-carried Evo 4G and Galaxy Tab, as well as Wi-Fi–only products. Our Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T devices were unable to receive the app for installation.
A spokesperson from Verizon confirmed the application is not available to Verizon Wireless customers. AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Screenshot: What we saw when trying to download the Wireless Tether app from Android Market.
If you’ve rooted your Android phone, using it as an internet hotspot for your other devices is one of its biggest perks. When nary an internet-enabled cafe is nearby, apps like Wireless Tether allow you to use your phone’s 4G, 3G or 2G data connection to access the web from another connected (or “tethered”) device, like your laptop or Wi-Fi–only tablet.
The best part: You bypass the monthly fee that most carriers charge for wireless tethering on devices (standard monthly charge for wireless tethering on the big four U.S. carriers is $30).
That’s why blocking the application makes sense in terms of a carrier’s bottom line. Missing out on that extra cash while its customers consume its precious bandwidth for free isn’t attractive to carriers.
This sort of interference isn’t anything new. After being fed up with jailbreaking iPhone owners who used similar apps to tether for free, AT&T decided to call their bluff. In March, the company started sending warning messages and then automatically billing customers who were suspected of using unofficial tethering apps. AT&T said it would charge for the service unless a customer immediately stopped using his or her unofficial tethering app.
To the resourceful Android phone owner, these carrier actions won’t be a huge problem. Although the app won’t be available through the official Android Market, you can go directly to the developers’ site and sideload the program onto your device. And if you’ve rooted your device and have a mod like Cyanogen 7.0 installed, there’s already a wireless-tethering option built into the program interface, eliminating the need to download another app.
A wall-climbing robot at SRI International sticks to vertical surfaces using electroadhesive film. Photo: Dylan Tweney/Wired.com
MENLO PARK, California — Scientists at SRI International have figured out how to make a plastic film that can stick to walls when you apply a small electric current — then peel off effortlessly when you turn the current off.
Why? They’re not entirely sure yet, but it’s pretty cool technology.
A recent SRI project aims to use the film to stick extension ladders to walls, so they don’t fall over when you’re climbing up them.
I saw a demonstration of the technology recently at SRI’s labs here, not far from Stanford University, which spawned the think tank in 1946 and spun it off as an independent nonprofit in 1970. The organization has been home to an impressive range of breakthroughs, from Douglas Engelbart’s pioneering work on mouse-driven graphical user interfaces to surgical robots, and has spawned a number of commercially successful spinoffs.
The key to on-demand stickiness is a special polymer film with a very low power (but high voltage) circuit printed on it. Applying 7,500 volts at 50-100 microamperes of current makes the polymer sticky enough to support small loads. Turn the current off, and the stickiness, called electroadhesion, dissipates within a few seconds.
Wrap that film around a couple of rollers, tank tread-style, and you’ve got a wall-climbing robot.
The robot shown in the video below has a footprint of about 1.5 by 2 feet, which gives it enough stickiness to lift itself (the robot weighs about 4 pounds) plus a 4-pound payload. It’s controlled by wireless signals from a game controller, though the controls are pretty limited: It can go forward (up) or backward (down). And it’s quite sticky, even on uneven surfaces like a painted cinder-block wall.
The SRI scientist who developed this technology in 2008, Harsha Prahlad, sees it as potentially useful for wall-climbing surveillance robots, or robots that can climb buildings, bridges, or other structures to inspect them for damage in places that humans can’t easily reach.
Other applications include pick-and-place systems in warehouses: A robot arm with an electroadhesive “pad” could use it to pick up objects, then set them on conveyor belts or in boxes.
It would also make a slick wall-hanging system for photo frames or even tablets like the iPad: Turn on the adhesive pad, stick it to the wall and walk away, with no wall-disfiguring nails or screws required. With a small solar panel, you can get enough energy from ambient light to power the electroadhesive film all day, Prahlad says.
See below for a video of the wall-climbing robot in action.
Note: The two “tails” sticking down from the bottom of the robot are there to keep the robot from peeling off the wall. By giving the robot an angular “brace” it increases the horizontal component of the force, which the electroadhesive film is better able to resist. Prahlad says that geckos’ tails function in a similar way: “If you cut off the tail from a gecko it can no longer climb.”
RC indoor helicopters have been annoying cats and crashing into expensive home electronics for years, but Swann’s new line of radio-controlled choppers uses a souped-up gyro technology for better stability.
Well everybody, it looks like the free ride is over: carriers in the US have started to seriously crack down on Android tethering apps. Head on over to the Android Market site and try to install an app that turns your smartphone into a WiFi hotspot — there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be told, “this item is not available on your carrier.” We checked out a number of different tethering options and they were all blocked by T-Mobile and AT&T, which isn’t entirely new. Verizon has also joined the party and, while it missed at least one that we spotted, we’re sure they’ll all be gone in short order. Only Sprint has decided against banning such apps… for now. It looks like you might have to finally cough up for that tethering plan you’ve been desperately trying to avoid.
Apple promised last week that it would address the iPhone tracking issue in a software update in the “next few weeks,” and BGR is now reporting that the update is coming within the next two weeks, or “possibly sooner.” What’s more, the site says that it’s actually been sent an early version of the iOS update, and that it does indeed no longer back up the location database to iTunes — the size of the database is also said to be reduced, and it’s apparently deleted altogether when Location Services are turned off. Somewhat notably, BGR says that the update includes some further battery life improvements as well, although it also notes that it hasn’t actually tried it out just yet — it is promising additional details, though.
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