Well, hmph. That’s not how drones work guys. Supposedly, this video shows Portugal attempting to launch a naval drone by giving it a running start. As the drone is thrown in the air to fly, it immediately nosedives and crashes into the ocean. What a wonderful failure.
Sculptures proposed for the entrance to a national park in Coimbra, Portugal, are 3D-printed out of local soil, cork, and sand. The faceted shapes—designed by three architecture students at the Bartlett School in London—would create pavilions and rest stops for visitors. [DesignBoom]
     |
Google has been on something of a tear spreading its Google Play media services around the world; don’t look now, but it’s picking up the pace. The search giant is expanding Google Play Music today to cover Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Portugal. That small deluge of new countries can now shop for their favorite tunes as well as store up to 20,000 of them online for streaming, either on the web or on Android devices. Large swaths of the world remain uncovered by the service — ahem, Canada — but we’ll still welcome a big step toward cloud music for everyone.
[Thanks, Chris]
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Play (Google+)
Rara.com has been mighty busy since its luddite-friendly music streaming service launched at the end of last year, and now it’s reporting the outcome of those 10 months of toil. In addition to an improved web experience and new Android widget, an AirPlay-compatible app for iOS is now available, with software for Windows 8 arriving alongside its launch. Rara’s 18 million tracks haven’t only invaded other platforms, but other countries, too — residents of Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Africa and Portugal have joined the party, bringing the total number of compatible countries to 27. Lenovo is also getting a piece of the action, as a worldwide agreement means Rara software will now come pre-installed on the manufacturer’s Android tablets and Windows 8 gear. Want to hear more about Rara’s recent accomplishments? Then head for the PR after the break.
Continue reading Rara.com expands to iOS, Windows 8 and more countries
Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Internet, Software, Lenovo
Rara.com expands to iOS, Windows 8 and more countries originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
Disappointed that your country or favorite carrier missed the initial cut for the iPhone 5 launch? Odds are that you’re all good now. Worldwide, 22 more countries have joined the mix as of today, including wide swaths of Europe as well as New Zealand; you’ll find the full list in the release here. Americans also don’t have to turn to the big carriers, as they can now opt for prepaid carrier Cricket in addition to a slew of extra providers that include C Spire as well as regionals like GCI and nTelos. In some cases, you’ll even snag a discount by going with one of the smaller networks. If you bagged an iPhone in Barcelona, or caught one on Cellcom, let others know how it’s going in the comments.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
PSA: iPhone 5 available in 22 more countries, on Cricket and US regional carriers galore originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | Comments
It’s all too easy to forget in English-speaking countries that the e-reading selection often isn’t as diverse in other parts of the world, where local authors are often kept out of the equation. The Portuguese may know that all too well, which makes Kobo’s arrival in their country a potential breakthrough. A deal with European retailer FNAC has both the Kobo Touch and a localized Kobo e-bookstore reaching physical and online stores in Portugal as of today. The price strategy won’t be a shock versus what we’ve seen through an earlier deal in France: the Touch itself costs €99.90 ($129), while books vary and typically hover around €15 ($19). Whether or not Kobo’s offering is a good deal, its arrival could be a relief for lisboetas who’d rather not resort to paper and ink to catch up on their own culture.
Continue reading Kobo Touch, localized e-bookstore reach Portugal through FNAC
Kobo Touch, localized e-bookstore reach Portugal through FNAC originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
FNAC | Email this | Comments
Another legal tangle for Apple in Portugal? Just days after a consumer rights group in the country said it was preparing to bring legal action against Apple over the wording of its AppleCare warranty service, it has emerged that an IT reseller and distributor called Taboada & Barros is already suing Apple over claims of price fixing and unfair trade practices, asking for €40 million ($49 million) in damages.
According to a report in the Portuguese-language Apple blog iPhoneTuga – citing details first reported in the Portuguese weekly newspaper Sol – the suit stretches back to February but seems to have only been made public now, in light of the action being taken by the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO). Unlike the DECO case — which has a precedent in Italy, where Apple was fined $1.2 million over a similar matter — this lawsuit is less cut and dry.
Taboada & Barros, which also controls a large Apple distributor called Interlog, alleges that Apple’s intentional restrictions on the quantity of products it distributes through third parties led to the failure of Interlog. And this has coincided with Apple getting more active in the country, it says:
“Apple arrived in Portugal in 2007 and the following year, usurped the distribution channels that were assembled by Interlog for over 20 years, taking over from our distributors.”
Apple has a dedicated site for Portugal but relies on resellers for physical sales.
A post on Portuguese business news site Economico, dating back to May 2011, underscores how demand has outstripped supply at resellers. With iPhone handsets, iPad tablets and other devices and peripherals not arriving after March (presumably due to Interlog failing), some claimed unfilled orders for devices like the iPad tablet.
A source at TB, speaking to Sol, says that on top of restricting the flow of products to third parties, Apple renegotiated the margins that resellers can take on products down to 4 percent from a previous 12 percent. “Apple unilaterally established products, prices and quantities to be sold to large retailers,” it said.
It’s likely that the margin reduction and lost sales over supply issues are both factors in the request for €40 million in damages.
Given that in other countries Apple has played a strong role on the retail side, with its own direct presence in the form of physical and online stores, if all this is accurate, it should be unsurprising to hear Apple cracking the whip and attempting to bring more of the sales effort in Portugal under its wing. Regardless, coming as it does alongside the DECO action, even raising the issue of unfair practices can end up being damaging to Apple’s reputation in the country.
We are contacting both TB and Apple for comment on this story and will update as we learn more.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
