Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve seen slider phones with speakers, gamepads, and of course, the standard keypad — but what if you want to swap out your slider accessory for something new? A new patent from Microsoft is exploring the possibility, showing off a concept smartphone with a sliding modular bay. Tired of that keyboard? Replace it with a gamepad, or a life-giving battery pack. According to the patent claims, some of the modular components would even function wirelessly, citing a touchscreen module which doubles as a wireless handset or a media remote. Neat? You bet, but we wouldn’t get our hopes up — Microsoft typically keeps out of the handset manufacturing game, and the last modular phone to pique our interest didn’t exactly make a splash.

Microsoft patents modular Windows Phone with swappable batteries, keyboard, and gamepad originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yearning for an EV that can fit within your budget? You may not have to wait too long, according a group of engineers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), who are aiming to halve plug-in manufacturing costs by 2018. It’s all part of something called Competence E — a €200 million ($273 million) initiative that will draw upon the expertise of 250 scientists from 25 different institutes, in the hopes of creating new and more cost-effective methods of producing power trains and batteries. Under the publicly funded project, which was announced at last week’s International Motor Show, KIT’s researchers will construct a “research factory” where they’ll develop and demonstrate their processes and technologies. According to project leader Andreas Gutsch, the idea isn’t to create concepts that could bear fruit a few decades down the road, but to develop more pragmatic solutions that can be integrated at the industrial level within a relatively short time frame. “We are no longer focused on studying individual molecules or components, but on developing solutions on the system level, which meet industrial requirements,” Gutsch told Science|Business. “We are actively approaching industry and will even intensify these efforts…We are conducting excellent research for application, not for the drawer.” A full 50 engineers will begin working on Competence E next year, with the project scheduled to wrap up by 2018. Purr past the break for more details, in the full press release.

Continue reading German engineers want to halve EV manufacturing costs by 2018, seem confident about it

German engineers want to halve EV manufacturing costs by 2018, seem confident about it originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic’s little battery-powered bot that could, the Evolta, has garnered our attention several times over the years. It’s already climbed out of the Grand Canyon and walked 500km from Tokyo to Kyoto, but apparently neither was enough to prove it and its namesake batteries’ true mettle. This time, Panasonic’s putting three of the robots through the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, and they’ve got a week to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112, and run a 26.2 mile marathon. Unlike the meatbags running the race who have a day to finish, the robots get a week — though they’ll be doing their thing 24 hours a day while only taking breaks to recharge their three AA batteries. Intrigued? The race starts on October 23rd, so there’s plenty of time to watch the appropriately dramatic video explaining the challenge facing the triumvirate of tiny triathletes after the break.

Continue reading Evolta robot to take on the Ironman Triathlon, conquer the course in a week

Evolta robot to take on the Ironman Triathlon, conquer the course in a week originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan have figured out a way to drastically increase your cellphone’s battery life, at least while using WiFi. By using what they’re calling E-MiLi, or Energy-Minimizing Idle Listening, professor Kang Shin (right) and student Xinyu Zhang have developed a proof of concept that could extend battery life up to 54-percent with the WiFi radio on. Even when idle, a wireless radio is actively checking for incoming traffic. E-MiLi scales back the wireless card’s clock to just 1/16th of its normal operating speed, and only kicks back into full gear when it senses incoming data. To be really useful though, we’d love to see the same trick employed on cellular data networks — that LTE sure is fast, but it’s not exactly battery-friendly. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading New ‘subconscious mode’ could improve smartphone battery life, supress your WiFi id

New ‘subconscious mode’ could improve smartphone battery life, supress your WiFi id originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading HTC Sensation XE gets official, packing 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and Beats Audio

HTC Sensation XE gets official, packing 1.5GHz dual-core CPU and Beats Audio originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 05:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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