Hasta La Gadget!

The reusable spacecraft we’ve seen so far haven’t really lived up to their billing: vehicles like the Space Shuttle or SpaceShipTwo require elaborate, expensive launches. If DARPA succeeds with its just-announced XS-1 program, however, spaceflight could be an affordable, everyday occurrence. The agency plans to develop an unmanned spacecraft that requires a minimal ground crew, reaches speeds above Mach 10 and flies at least 10 times in as many days. Provided DARPA meets its goals, XS-1 would both speed up the deployment of small satellites and lower the cost per flight to an “aircraft-like” $5 million or less. Don’t count on seeing a ship in action anytime soon, though. DARPA will only receive some of the first design proposals on October 7th, and someone still has to build the winning project — it will likely be years before XS-1 slips the surly bonds of Earth.

Filed under: Transportation

Comments

Source: DARPA

When it comes to fans, some really do whatever it takes to get what they want, and in the case of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 5, three men posed as police officers in an attempt to cut the line at the Staten Island Mall to get their hands on the game earlier than everyone else. One of the men was actually an auxiliary NYPD officer, the other is the son of a retired officer, and together with car purchased at a police auction along with a “lights-and-siren package” installed, they attempted to flash their badges at the crowd in order for them to move out of the way so they could cut the queue.

In fact they would have escaped and no one would have been the wiser as no one questioned their authenticity. However it was only when they left the mall and made an illegal U-turn that a real police officer in an unmarked car caught them and exposed them as fake police officers. What do you guys think? Have you encountered hardcore fans who might have attempted something extreme to get their hands on the game early? Perhaps bribing their way to the start of the line?

Gamers Pretend To Be Cops To Get GTA 5 Early original content from Ubergizmo.

Just a couple of weeks ago at IFA 2013 in Berlin, Sony took the wraps off the Xperia Z1. The device was essentially an upgraded version of the Xperia Z1, although one of the key features of the phone would be its 20MP camera and lens which would allow it to compete against the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom and the Nokia Lumia 1020. Interestingly enough it seems that thanks to a leaked image, it has been suggested that Sony could already be working on the Sony Xperia Z2 handset, and according to the leaker, the Xperia Z2 could even make its debut at CES 2014 which is odd given that the handset was only just revealed.

Of course since this image hardly confirms anything and could easily be a fake for all we know, do take it with a grain of salt for now. However for those interested in the device, the rumors are saying that the Xperia Z2 would sport a much thinner body compared to its predecessor (which is pretty thin as it is), a 5.2” 500PPI display, a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 20.7MP camera. It sounds like it could be quite a powerful device but what do you guys think? Is the image above a fake or do you think Sony could already be prepping the Xperia Z2?

Sony Working On Xperia Z2 For CES 2014? [Rumor] original content from Ubergizmo.

Here we have another upcoming LCD monitor from Philips, the 272C4QPJKAB/11. Adopting a PLS panel, this 27-inch LED-backlight monitor provides 2560 x 1440 native resolution, 20,000,000 dynamic contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness, 6ms response time and 178/178 degree viewing angles. In addition, it also comes with two built-in 2W stereo speakers and has 1x dual-link DVI-D, 2x HDMI and 1x DisplayPort connectors. The 272C4QPJKAB/11 will be available from September 30th for 62,820 Yen (about $635). [Product Page]

Dospara has dropped a new gaming PC namely the Galleria XT-A ‘Monster Hunter Frontier G’. This Monster Hunter Frontier G certified gaming PC is packed with a 3.40GHz Intel Core i7-4770 processor, an Intel H87 Express Chipset, a GeForce GTX 760 2GB graphics card, an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 2TB hard drive, a DVD Super Multi Drive, a 500W 80-PLUS BRONZE power supply and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS. The Galleria XT-A ‘Monster Hunter Frontier G’ is available now for 129,980 Yen (about $1,314). [Product Page]