Hasta La Gadget!

Several 9to5Mac readers noticed a rather peculiar phenomenon this last week — their freshly-ordered Verizon iPad 2 units shipped all the way from China just fine, only to boomerang back to sender right before delivery time. Now, Reuters has the official word: Apple’s recalling an “extremely small number” of Verizon iPad 2s which were flashed with a duplicate MEID code. Should they have been delivered, users would probably have found themselves unable to connect to 3G, or booted off before long, as Verizon reportedly can only have one device with that unique identifier on the network at once. We’re not sure whether to applaud, but it’s good to see manufacturers taking responsibility for their hardware before it hits shelves.

Update: We spoke with Apple about this, who wouldn’t give us much beyond the official quote — which is, for the record: “Duplicate MEID codes were flashed onto an extremely small number of iPad units for the Verizon 3G network.” That said, we were able to confirm that a few of these 3G iPad 2s sneaked through and got into the hands of customers. Apple is, of course, replacing those free of charge, so if you’re in possession of a brand new iPad that was never able to get on 3G… you know who to call.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Apple returns a few Verizon iPad 2s to sender (updated: some got through) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’d be forgiven for dismissing an amateur metallurgist if he claimed to have improved upon the presumably perfected technology of steel making. But Flash Bainite, the creation of Detroit entrepreneur Gary Cola, wowed a team of Ohio State University engineers by turning centuries of alloy processing on its head. Instead of heating the metal for hours or days, this well-equipped DIYer boosted the temperature — quickly baking, then cooling sheets of steel that are 7-percent stronger than other forms and tougher than some titanium alloys. Flash Bainite is also more ductile than other steels, allowing it to crumple more before breaking — perfect for absorbing impacts. Obviously this means stronger and lighter cars, laptops, and armored vehicles but, since the process takes all of about 10 seconds, it’s also more energy efficient and cheaper than traditional steel making. Now, who has the number for the Nobel Prize committee?

Detroit DIYer cooks up stronger, lighter steel, shames scientists originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chevy wants to know what it can do to get you into one of its plug-in hybrids today. A $1,000 price drop? You got it. The carmaker announced this week that the 2012 Volt base price will come in a grand lower than its predecessor, thanks to the sorts of additional configurations that come with increased availability. The 2011 version was available in seven states and the District of Columbia and came in three configurations — 2012’s Volt is available nationwide in seven different packages, ranging from $39,995 to $46,265. And keep in mind that those prices don’t factor in potential tax credits. The latest version of the plug-in vehicle is available now for order and offers up features like MyLink media streaming, OnStar driving directions, and passive locking (though the new base model does strip away a couple of features found in its predecessor). Also there’s the whole lessening your dependence on gasoline, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Continue reading Chevy drops Volt base price by $1,000 for 2012, makes saving the world slightly more affordable

Chevy drops Volt base price by $1,000 for 2012, makes saving the world slightly more affordable originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There were dozens upon dozens of games shown off at E3 2011, but only a selected few can be named best in show. Here are our top 20 games of E3 2011.

Originally posted at E3 2011

This article was written on March 16, 2010 by CyberNet.

We released the CyberSearch 2.0.5 Firefox extension this week which includes numerous bug fixes and support for Firefox 3.7 nightly builds, and the Snapback functionality is once again working the way I intended it to. Now when you click the Snapback button in the Address Bar it not only repopulates your search query, but also displays the drop down of the results immediately.

The main thing, however, I want to point out is our greatly enhanced “search this site” functionality. Judging by the feedback I received over the past few months I can now say that one of the most common uses for CyberSearch is to find information on the site your currently viewing. I talked with some friends, ran some ideas by them, and came up with what feels like the perfect solution.

Imagine you’re on a site like the New York Times. Previously if you wanted to search the site you’d have to put your “keyword” at the beginning of the URL, and then move to the end of the URL, type a space, and put in your search terms. Searching the New York Times for “Bill Gates” would mean your Address Bar looked something like this (note that “>” is the default keyword, but can be customized):

>http://www.nytimes.com/ bill gates

Don’t get me wrong, that will still work, but it can now be done in much fewer steps. With CyberSearch 2.0.5 all you have to do is jump up to your Address Bar, and type your keyword followed by your search terms. CyberSearch will automatically recognize that you’re wanting to search the current site, and will show results accordingly. The same New York Times example can now be accomplished by entering this into your Address Bar:

>bill gates

There is still some benefit to knowing the syntax in the first example though. If you’re on, for example, the Wall Street Journal’s site you can still search the New York Times by using any of the following:

>nytimes.com bill gates
>www.nytimes.com bill gates
>http://www.nytimes.com/ bill gates

Any of those will limit search results from the New York Times regardless of the site you’re currently viewing. CyberSearch 2.0.5 will basically assume that you want to search the current site if a URL is not provided.

Keep your feedback coming! And a big thanks to Peter and Edward who worked with me to resolve a Tab Mix Plus compatibility issue.

CyberSearch 2.0.5 Homepage

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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