Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia VP Victor Saeijs has this week disclosed the six launch markets for the vanguard devices born out of the Microsoft-Nokia partnership. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK will all count themselves as hosts to Nokia’s Windows Phone debut, but the company’s mother nation of Finland has strangely been left out in the cold. Knowing Nokia, there’s no doubt that once the WP7 handsets are ready they’ll find themselves swiftly available worldwide, but if you care to be among the very first to own one, you’ll be wanting to visit Europe’s western shores — preferably some time before the year’s through, as Mr. Saeijs also reaffirmed that there will indeed be a Nokia Windows Phone coming out in 2011.

Nokia Windows Phones will launch in six European nations first, Finland not among them originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last time we heard talk of a Sony tablet, the company was confirming our suspicions about
the existence of the S1 and S2, giving the distinctive Android devices a broad global release time frame of this fall. And now we’ve been shown a private note sent from Sony’s marketing group, highlighting an August pre-order and an end of September release date for an unnamed tablet from the company, a timeline that’s right in line with our initial report on the S1. The device, according to the note, will be available through Sony Direct, UK department store John Lewis, and a third still-unconfirmed retailer at launch. Availability will apparently open up after the Christmas holiday. The note doesn’t offer up much info on the tablet, though it does promise that it stacks up well against the iPad and offers up some “unique design features,” which may well refer to the S2’s clamshell — or, for that matter, the S1’s curved back.

Sony S1 and S2 tablets hitting Europe in September? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, Iceland — home to the Blue Lagoon, Sigur Rós and, most recently, crowdsourced constitutionalism. With its economy still reeling from the 2009 financial crisis, the country has begun hammering away at a brand new constitution, and is asking its online citizenry for help. The draft is being prepared by a democratically elected, 25-member council, but any Icelanders with an internet connection can add their own suggestions, engage in online debates, or follow the proceedings in real-time on Facebook. All suggestions are moderated to weed out the really dumb ones (“FEWER VOLCANOES”), and those approved by the board will be directly added to the draft, due to be completed at the end of this month. It’s a fascinating social experiment, but one that could probably only happen in a place where nearly 90 percent of all households have a broadband connection, two-thirds of the entire population is on Facebook — meaning their politicians are always within poke’s reach.

In Iceland, constitutions are written on Facebook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The train ride from Paris to Amsterdam may not be the most scenic of European railway routes, but it’s the only one capable of harnessing the awesome power of the Sun — for two miles, at least. Yesterday, engineers in Belgium officially switched on Europe’s first solar-powered train tunnel, spanning a 2.1-mile stretch of the rail line connecting the City of Lights to Mokum. The installation’s 16,000 solar panels will be used to provide 50 percent of the energy needed to power nearby Antwerp Central Station and to provide extra juice for both high-speed and traditional trains. Originally developed to help protect travelers from falling trees in an ancient forest, the project is expected to produce up to 3.3MWh 3,300 megawatts hours per year, while decreasing annual CO2 emissions by about 2,400 tons. Speed past the break for some aerial footage of the artery, along with a brief PR from Enfinity — the Belgian renewable energy company that helped bring it to life.

Update: According to the AFP, the tunnel will produce 3,300 megawatts hours per year.

Continue reading Europe’s first solar powered train tunnel goes live on Belgian high-speed line (video)

Europe’s first solar powered train tunnel goes live on Belgian high-speed line (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Europe’s already extensive broadband coverage may be expanding even further, now that Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat satellite has officially gone into service. The new craft, which launched from Kazakhstan in late December, uses spotbeam technology to generate areas of connectivity that are about 250 kilometers wide, with each beam carrying a total capacity of 900Mbps. Unlike the Hylas 1, its reach will extend far across the continent, providing Tooway’s high-bandwidth services to 13 million households in remote locations. Subscribers will have download speeds of up to 10Mbps and upload rates of 4Mbps, though they’ll still have to put up with latency on the order of 250ms, making life even more difficult for Eastern European OnLive gamers. Of course, this access won’t come for free, but Ka-Sat’s 82-beam network structure significantly lowers its operating costs, allowing Eutelsat to offer prices that are on par with market rates. According to company CEO Michel de Rosen, customers should expect to pay around €30 for basic service, in addition to €250 they’d have to spend on a 77cm satellite dish. That’s not necessarily a small amount of cash for low-income families to fork over, but at least they’ll have an option that didn’t exist before. Head past the break for a video about Tooway’s Ka-Sat services, along with a full PR.

Continue reading Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat satellite goes into service, provides broadband to 13 million homes across Europe

Eutelsat’s Ka-Sat satellite goes into service, provides broadband to 13 million homes across Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 11:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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