Hasta La Gadget!

There are several companies that are currently working hard on the development and testing of rocket engines and other spacecraft components for the commercial space program in the United States. So far, the most successful company in commercial spaceflight has been SpaceX. The company has already conducted several missions to resupply the ISS.

Another of the companies in the commercial space business is called ATK. The company has announced that it has successfully tested its newly developed CASTOR 30XL upper stage solid rocket motor this week at the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tennessee. The company says that the test was the final qualification for the commercial motor that was developed with cooperation from Orbital Sciences Corporation.

The two companies were able to get the engine qualified in 20 months from concept to completion. The rocket engine is designed to ignite at altitudes of over 100,000 feet. The test for the engine occurred in the Air Force facility using a large vacuum chamber designed specifically to simulate upper atmospheric conditions. ATK says that initial data indicates the motor performed as designed.

The next for the company is to analyze the results of the test against its performance models. This particular rocket engine is designed to be used by Orbital as an enhanced secondary stage for the Antares launch vehicle. Antares is designed to perform commercial cargo resupply missions to the ISS for NASA just as SpaceX has been doing. The solid rocket motor is 92-inches in diameter, 236 inches in length, and weighs about 58,000 pounds. The rocket nozzle itself is 8 feet long.

[via ATK]

ATK successfully tests CASTOR 30XL upper stage solid rocket motor is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the graphics in modern games being so realistic, and with a decent audio setup, you might almost feel like you’re “there”, but what are the other ways that one might go about trying to make the gaming experience more immersive? Well according to the folks at Kotaku, they stumbled upon a device at GDC 2013 made by Sensory Acumen. So what does this device do? Dubbed the rather odd and foreboding “Game Skunk”, what this device does is release smells, presumably related to the game that you are playing.

We can imagine that smells such as sewerage waste could be released when playing games that take the player to a sewer, or maybe the smell of alcohol when walking into a bar, or maybe even cooking smells when playing games like Cooking Mama. It’s an intriguing idea although we’re not sure if gamers will appreciate their homes smelling like the sewers. Apart from gaming, it seems that Sensory Acumen is also looking to use this device for therapy purposes, such as for soldiers sufferiong from post-traumatic stress disorder.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Battlefield 4 DLC Teased, GameStop: Nintendo Wii U Sales ‘Disappointing’,

You’d really like to stream some HD cable TV to a DLNA client from your HDHomeRun Prime, but aren’t willing to risk introducing beta firmware into your fully functional entertainment system? We have good news: after a little more than two months of beta, your wait is over. Today’s official HDHomeRun Prime update comes with release notes detailing its newfound ability to stream Copy Freely content to any DLNA playback device (like XBMC, PS3 or Samsung’s HDTVs, for example) that supports MPEG-2 and AC3. Protected content, like anything marked Copy Once, works as well if your device happens to be one of the few that supports CableLab’s transmission DRM of choice, DTCP-IP. So while we warned that this feature might not be worth injecting beta software into the mix back in January, a number of fixes in this release plus weeks of testing should push HDHomeRun Prime owners to update now.

[Thanks, Rob]

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Silicondust firmware change log

Scion has officially unveiled its new refreshed 2014 tC at the New York international Auto Show. The refreshing of the tC is a big deal for Scion because the vehicle is its most popular model. According to Scion, 40% of all Scions ever sold are tC models.

I wonder with the impressive popularity of the new FR-S if the tC will continue to be the most popular model in the line. For 2014, the refreshed tC gets new styling offering a new and more distinctive headlight design and a new hood that extends lower to meet up with a more muscular grille. Both the upper and lower grille treatments are bordered with LED lighting.

In the rear, the car gets a blackout valance that reminds of the FR-S. The vehicle also gets advanced LED tail lamps and new 18-inch alloy wheels. Those new wheels are fitted with 225/45-18 tires and feature a dark gray finish with machined spoke surfaces. Two new paint colors are also added to the line including Absolutely Red and Blue Streak Metallic.

Inside the car, the interior gets upgraded materials and new convenience features. The new tC is the first Scion to get the new Scion Standard Display Audio with the 6.1-inch LCD touchscreen. That touchscreen system will be integrated into all 2014 Scion models. It features Bluetooth compatibility, HD Radio technology, and steering wheel mounted controls. The vehicle will also be available with a premium audio system including navigation and other features. The engine is a 2.5-liter four-cylinder delivering 179 hp at 6000 RPM. That engine can be paired with a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual.

[via Scion]

Refreshed 2014 Scion tC unveiled is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As with the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, Samsung is looking to do the same with the Galaxy S4 and could be launching the Galaxy S4 Mini. We’ve seen an alleged photo of the device, although it seems that the existence and possible launch date for the device could have been revealed by Businessweek writer, Sam Grobart. Grobart has been working with Samsung for a recent article, and in his article, Grobart wrote that the Samsung Galaxy S4 “will probably be another huge hit for Samsung, as will the S 4 mini that will go on sale soon after.” Considering that he has been working with Samsung on his report, it is safe to assume that he might have heard about some things that might not.

Alternatively it is possible that Grobart is speculating about the release of the Galaxy S4 Mini, and based his opinion on what Samsung has done with the Galaxy S3 Mini. However with the alleged leaked photo we saw earlier, we wouldn’t be surprised if Samsung had a Galaxy S4 Mini in the works, and while we’ll take the release date with a hint of skepticism for now, we will still keep our eyes peeled for more information, so stayed tuned for more updates! In the meantime what do you guys think of a Galaxy S4 Mini? Will you be interested in such a device, or would you much prefer its bigger brother, the Galaxy S4?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Next-gen iPhone Rumored For 20th June Launch, Rumor: Amazon Phone To Feature 4.7-inch Display,