Hasta La Gadget!

Initial rumors had the Verizon release of the Galaxy Nexus pegged for November 10th but, while the carrier has officially confirmed the flagship Android handset is coming, it’s refused to say when. Now several sources have told Droid Life not to expect our first taste of Ice Cream Sandwich until the week of Black Friday at the earliest. In fact, a leaked roadmap photo seems to suggest Big Red customers won’t be able to get their hands on one until after the busiest shopping day of the year, when it launches as part of Samsung’s “Holiday Portfolio.” If our disappointment was a flavor, we’d be Neapolitan — three shades of sad.

[Thanks, K]

Verizon Galaxy Nexus not landing til after Black Friday? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t rub your eyes. That above pic is no mirage. It’s a leaked rebate form heralding the Big Red arrival of an actual Illusion — a 3G Samsung-made one, that is. The form, sent to us by an eagle-eyed tipster, confirms that mysterious Gingerbread phone’s imminent November launch, while also outing two other equally un-hyped devices: the BlackBerry Curve 9370 and Casio G’zOne Ravine 2. No official release date could be gleaned from the info at hand, but with a redemption period ranging from the 1st of this month to the 28th, we’re fairly certain this triumvirate of mid-range phones will be making a retail debut soon. So, if you need to replace your last battle-weary, ruggedized smartphone or have a hankering for portrait QWERTYs, this fair fall month’s mobile refreshes could be just the ticket.

Samsung Illusion, Casio G’zOne Ravine 2 and BlackBerry Curve 9370 to hit Verizon this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If there’s one thing you want your multi-million dollar electromagnetic railgun to be, it’s reliable, and the US Navy announced today that it’s reached a key milestone towards that goal. It’s now successfully fired its prototype gun 1,000 times, which translates to as many as 15 shots per week. In recent years, those tests have generally been conducted at a 1.5 megajoule launch energy, which the Navy puts into perspective by noting that “a one-ton vehicle moving at 100 mph has approximately one megajoule of kinetic energy.” Eventually, the Navy hopes to install even more advanced and far more powerful railgun weapons systems on ships, although the project’s future remains a bit up in the air given some recent funding battles in the US Senate.

Continue reading US Navy’s electromagnetic railgun hits testing milestone: 1,000 shots fired

US Navy’s electromagnetic railgun hits testing milestone: 1,000 shots fired originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You have to hand it to the tireless folks toiling away within Microsoft’s Research department. They’re hard at the task of making tomorrowland today’s province. Perhaps spurred on by the rapturous response to their HoloDesk, the Cambridge gang’s previewing yet another virtual reality, and this time it’s a handheld trio. The palm-friendly devices, split up into camera, room and SLAM models, incorporate pico projectors, coaxial IR cameras, inertial measurement units (IMUs) and the company’s Kinect (for the latter two only) to project augmented visions onto surrounding surfaces. If you’ve been honing your shadow puppetry game over the years, that oft-used skill’s about to get very useful. The environmentally aware (no, not the Go Green! kind) systems allow for shadow- and touch-based interaction with the CG overlays, offering pinch functionality, icon selection and even painting — don’t worry, it’s definitely removable. This neat tech hat trick could one day soon spare you a trip to IKEA, letting you test out potential decorative pieces from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, we can’t get handsy with the futuristic projectors just yet, so the video after the break will have to suffice.

[Thanks, Pradeep]

Continue reading Trio of Microsoft projectors lets you get quasi-physical with AR interaction (video)

Trio of Microsoft projectors lets you get quasi-physical with AR interaction (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading iPhone 4S gets official date and blessing by C-Spire, all yours on November 11th

iPhone 4S gets official date and blessing by C-Spire, all yours on November 11th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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