Nissan and FedEx are keeping their tests of the new e-NV200 van and the next stage is Brazil. e-NV200 is 100% electric and will be delivering FedEx packages for a month. The obtained results will then be analyzed by the two companies and used to perfect e-NV200 plans, which production will start latter this year in Spain.
Nintendo continues its downward spiral as it’s game console the Wii U remains unpopular and its profits slump. During the company’s latest earnings call, it became clear just how poorly the Wii U is selling. According to the call, Nintendo sold only 5.86 million units since the Wii U launched.
That represents an incremental 2.8 million units compared to the number sold as of the end of 2012. 2.8 millions sounds like a lot of units – until you consider Sony sold more PS4 consoles in a couple of months than Nintendo sold Wii Us over the course of an entire year.
Microsoft also sold more Xbox One consoles in the same period, with over 3 million consoles sold since launch. A bright spot for Nintendo continues to be the 3DS, which sold a substantial 12.9 million units last year, though smartphone and tablet sales have got the be eating into their handheld market share too. Hopefully, the Big N will find its way back to its former glory in the not-too-distant future.
[via Engadget]
Shapify has ushered in the new era of the selfie, making it simple for interested folks to have their own 3D-printed self for perching on a desk or as the … Continue reading
White Heat is a classic gangster film from 1949, starring James Cagney. It is a thoroughly Los Angeles flick, filmed almost exclusively in the Greater Los Angeles region, including scenes shot at Warner Brother Studios in Burbank. The film is considered a classic for many reasons—but what’s interesting in terms of Gizmodo is its depiction of, at the time, cutting-edge technologies that were adapted by the police to track down Cagney’s gang.
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One of the cool things about motorsports is that you can count on some of the tech you see at the race track today making it to production cars of tomorrow. I really hope that holds true for the awesome engine that Nissan has shown off that will power the ZEOD RC racing car during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, when it’s not running on battery power.
This engine sounds puny if you just look at displacements. It is a 3-cylinder 1.5-liter engine that uses a turbo charger. That sounds like something you would find under the hood of the latest Nissan Versa.
When you see the big turbo mounted on the side and get a glimpse at the dyno, any thought of fuel efficient pansy engines disappears in a haze of heat and tire smoke. This little beast of a 3-cylinder engine produces 400hp and 280 lb-foot of torque at 7500RPM. What’s more impressive is that the entire engine weighs 88 pounds. In fact, the DIG-T R engine has a higher power-to-weight ratio than the latest F1 engines.
The motor will take over power duties for ZEOD RC car that will be able to make one lap of the 8.5 mile-long Le Mans race course on electricity alone. I really want this engine under the hood of the IDx Nismo, and the whole shebang sitting in my driveway.
[via Motor Authority]
We’ve seen a hexacopter with six legs, but this quadcopter takes after birds instead of spiders. This particular quadcopter is Vishwa Robotics’ test unit. New Scientist reports that the company is developing leg add-ons for “small US air force drones.” The legs will allow drones to perch on branches, wires and other objects in order to survey and conserve energy.
Vishwa Robotics founder Bhargav Gajjar modeled the legs after those of the American kestrel. A computer controls the drone’s landing based on footage from a camera mounted on the drone: “Just like a real bird, the drone has to brake sharply just above its landing site and perform a controlled stall in order to touch down.” The legs’ strong claws allow a drone to stay upright without using any power. In addition, drones can also use the legs to walk short distances.
Vishwa Robotics is also testing its legs on fixed-wing drones, bringing us that much closer to seeing tiny Valkyries.
[via New Scientist via Gigaom]
Faceware and Vicon, two makers of motion capture technologies, has announced a new partnership that will bring their respective offerings together. For now, the partnership is bringing a simple merging … Continue reading
Over the last ten years, Google’s foray into the smartphone market has established its Android phones as a viable
competitor to Apple’s iPhones. However, in the years to come, mobile
revenues will be more or less chump change in comparison to the returns
Google will be able to derive from robots and artificial intelligence.
Sometimes, a service or piece of technology falls out of favor with its user. Perhaps it stops working properly; maybe small niggles become incredibly frustrating; or possibly the two simply grow apart. Either way, maybe the best way to say goodbye is through a breakup letter.
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The quickly-growing world of 3D printing technology has found itself utilized in a variety of fields, serving all sorts of purposes in each of them to improve or create things … Continue reading
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