Every year, about six tropical storms graduate to hurricane status, pummeling the Carribean and Eastern United States. Yes it’s a beast of a rain storm, but how does it get that way, and how do weather folks decide when it should be crowned “hurricane?” More »
Sure, there’s no sword-wielding lady in a leather blouse, but this silent hands-on walkthrough will no doubt prove exciting in its own right for anyone who has been aching to get their hands on the forthcoming Droid Bionic. It’s four minutes and change of scrolling through the Verizon phone’s fancy animations, with a speed test thrown in for good measure. Overall, there’s nothing too earthshaking, but it’s one of the most in-depth walkthroughs we’ve seen of the anticipated and long-delayed device in its current form, adding to that start up video we spotted the other day — and unlike those Verizon ads, it actually has a phone in it.
Continue reading Droid Bionic gets a silent walkthrough (video)
Droid Bionic gets a silent walkthrough (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The power created from walking creates a bridge from the phone to a cellular network, which dramatically extends battery life. Image courtesy of InSetep NanoPower
Taking the stairs could mean more time between charges for your phone.
Researchers at University of Wisconsin at Madison have developed a shoe insert that uses the impact of your strides to generate electricity for your phone. The prototype “footwear-embedded harvester” consists of two pouches filled with nanoparticle liquid metal called galinstan. It generates electrical current as it is forced through narrow channels, a process the researchers call “reverse electrowetting.” Power is stored in a battery in the arch of the shoe.
Other kinetic energy harvesters use piezoelectrics, which feature crystal sheets that polarize and produce energy through movement. The drawback is the technology generates so little power that an iPhone 4 wouldn’t notice the boost.
The power sneaker features the option to plug a phone into the shoe, but researchers Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor sought a less cumbersome approach. They found the biggest draw on your phone’s battery occurs when it’s searching for Wi-Fi or a cell tower signal, so they attached a Wi-Fi transmitter directly to the harvester. The shoe, not the phone, powers the connection to wireless signals. They say that means your battery can last up to 10 times longer.
The device is also able to be directly connected to a phone, which could be useful for soldiers toting night-vision goggles, or marathoners who rely on their iPhone 4’s music for motivation. And with no moving parts, the system requires minimal maintenance, making it a boon for those in areas with little or no electricity.
Krupenkin and Taylor plan to commercialize the technology through their new firm, InStep NanoPower. They’re courting shoe makers to design an incorporated piece of footwear.
![Click here to read 47" LG 1080p 120Hz 3D HDTV Is the Boob Tube Deal of the Day](https://i0.wp.com/cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2011/08/small_deal_8-26-2011.jpg?resize=190%2C120 "Click here to read 47" LG 1080p 120Hz 3D HDTV Is the Boob Tube Deal of the Day")
Black and white TVs begat Color TVs begat big screen TVs begat HDTVs begat flat screen TVs begat 1080p HDTVs begat 120Hz TVs begat 3D TVs. TVs for everybody! And everybody loves the boob tube, everybody wants their fill of mindless entertainment, everybody needs to have the biggest and baddest TV on the block. So it’s become this status symbol for your home, the measuring stick on who’s best. Buying this 47″ LG 1080p 120Hz 3D HDTV Blu-ray player bundle for only 900 bucks will give you a pretty big stick. -CC
• 47″ LG 47LW5300 LED 1080p 120Hz 3D HDTV w/ 3D Blu-ray player and 4 3D Glasses for $900 (normally $1200 {Savings of $300 / 25% off})
Pair this cool Kickstarter project with your favorite iPhone camera mount and you’ll be capturing Spielberg-quality dolly shots in no time.
Originally posted at iPhone Atlas
Earlier this year, we heard a slew of whispers promising a late winter launch for Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablets — there was even mention of a tab-specific OS. While it’s become clear that Redmond intends for its new operating system to run on multiple devices, insight into its tablet plans are still somewhat shrouded in mystery. From the looks of these gesture patents, however, it’s clear MS has been eyeing a dual-screen tablet future (hello Courier). The recently published patents, not yet granted to the company, touch upon methods for off-screen input (read: bezel-based), but mainly focus on these multi-screen input options: dual tap, pinch and expand, hold and page-flip, hold and tap, and finally, bookmark hold. As you can glimpse from the image above, the patents handle simultaneous touch screen input, allowing a user the ability to swap images between screens, or even freeze a page on one side while continuing to browse on the other. By the looks of things, Sony might have some fierce competition in the multi-screen tablet market. Head to the source below to get a fuller look at these touch-based solutions.
Microsoft gesture patents reveal possible dual-screen tablet focus originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A startup called PumpTire is trying to bring its prototype high-tech urban bike tires to market. They automatically inflate as you ride.
Hi, guys! Welcome to IRL, a brand new feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we’re using in real life. One of the reasons we started this column is that we don’t necessarily stop evaluating products once we slap on a numbered rating and publish some 3,000 words worth of impressions. This is a dilemma all gadget reviewers wrestle with, really. It’s one thing to test a product for a week and report back on benchmark results and battery life, but it’s another thing entirely to live with it. Sometimes, there are things we didn’t get to test. And if you play with something long enough, the Honeymoon always comes to an end. No exceptions.
We still see reviews as a snapshot in time — our job, after all, is to size up the products folks might be thinking of buying today, and it’s not fair to stay mum while we wait for companies to tweak products they had no business shipping half-baked in the first place. But we don’t think the conversation should end with the review. You guys already get to sound off on the things you own in the “How would you change?” column. Consider this our turn.
Continue reading IRL: The stuff Engadget editors are using… in real life
IRL: The stuff Engadget editors are using… in real life originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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CNET reviews the 2012 Volkswagen Eos, a car that shares much with the Jetta, except its price tag.
Originally posted at The Car Tech blog
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
