Hasta La Gadget!

Wondering where Apple stands environmentally after the recent withdrawal (and subsequent return) of its laptops and desktops from the EPEAT rating system? Greenpeace has issued a well-timed report, outlining the company’s broader back-end energy policies. According to the organization, “Apple’s clean energy policies have significantly improved, but the company still gets low scores for its energy choices when compared with sector leaders.” Greenpeace applauds Cupertino’s commitment to goal coal-free by next year, but wonders aloud how the company will get there, noting that while it has invested in solar and other renewable energy sources, it still buys power from outlets that rely on coal. The organization also took the time to admonish Apple’s lack of transparency on its environmental plans.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Greenpeace: Apple’s energy policy has improved, still needs to remove the coal smoke from iCloud originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s mysterious, if not ominous Nexus Q has already been hacked to launch apps of varied origins, but there’s one particular app that stands above all: Pong. Or, Brick Defender — you know, what’s a generic title amongst friends? BrickSimple managed to hack the Q for Pong playback, using the spinning top (read: volume wheel) to move the lower bar in the game. We’ll let you get right to the action; the video’s embedded after the break, and the code snippet necessary to duplicate it is there in the source below.

Continue reading Nexus Q repurposed to play Pong, games with your heart (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Gaming

Nexus Q repurposed to play Pong, games with your heart (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jul 2012 04:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BAE Systems revealed that it’s working on hardy, high-capacity solar cells that could power unmanned vehicles and even attach to an individual soldier’s gear. According to Darren Buckle, a manager from BAE Systems’ Advanced Technology Center, the cells are geared toward smaller, often airborne, military units, where weight is at a premium. The system, still in the development stage, could offer up power for heavy endurance unmanned air vehicles, provided the cells are made sensitive enough to absorb energy in less sunny situations — something that the company’s England-based engineers are currently contending with.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

BAE Systems designs hard composite solar cells: could act as structure of UAVs, piece of soldier’s gear originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether it’s on two wheels, under cover or across the cruel watery mistress, Google Maps wants to get you there. But what about the long, arduous pedestrian plod? Well, from today, 44 African nations will never need to put a foot wrong, thanks to the introduction of walking directions to their web and mobile versions of the mapping service. The search giant is keen to remind you that the new feature is still in beta, so if you end up somewhere else, you might need to rely on other methods to find out where you are.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Internet

Google Maps adds walking directions for 44 African countries on web and mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We spend hundreds of hours on board a variety of airplanes each year, most often en-route to a trade show or product launch event, but occasionally we have a rare opportunity to hop on board military aircraft, to test out unrelated products, or, even more unusually, to take a seat behind the yoke. Sadly that’s not what we’re doing today — well, not exactly. We are taking a closer look at the F-35 fighter jet at Lockheed Martin’s Fighter Demonstration Center just outside our nation’s capital, but, being in the middle of a corporate complex, there’s no actual Lightning II on hand. We were able to take a simulated ride, however — this isn’t your ordinary 4D sickness-inducing amusement park thrill. The F-35 is by far the most advanced Lockheed jet to date, with updated radar, all-internal weapons, improved tracking systems, 360-degree infrared coverage with a visor readout, and a full-stealth design, not to mention the incredibly capable glass cockpit powered by more than 9.3 million lines of software code, and an overall smoother experience for pilots that could end up spending shifts of 12 hours or longer in flight.

The F-35 has already seen plenty of field time in the US, with more than 500 flights already in 2012, and it’s set to make its way to the UK armed forces next week and the Netherlands later this year, but while the aircraft is quite familiar to the pilots tasked with flying it, the public hasn’t had an opportunity to experience Lockheed’s latest airborne warrior. We flew a simulated mission within a grounded duplicate of the flyable F-35 cockpit, and the capabilities and improvements are quite clear — you definitely don’t want to encounter an F-35 from a previous-generation aircraft. The dual 8 x 10-inch touch-enabled displays combine to give you 8 x 20 inches of real estate, with dedicated modules for the weapons systems, targeting, and navigation easily accessible — you can also move them to different panels depending on your current objective. A pair of joysticks at the left and right side provide direct access, letting you move a cursor to track enemy crafts or ground-based targets as well, and a very slick heads-up-display mounted in the helmet provides infrared mapping and instrument readouts. Overall, it seems to be an incredibly powerful system. Unfortunately, the mock-up on display here isn’t accessible to the public, but you can join us for a behind-the-scenes look just after the break.

Continue reading Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter cockpit demonstrator hands-on (video)

Filed under: Displays, Misc. Gadgets, Transportation

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter cockpit demonstrator hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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