Monorails used to be the vision of futuristic travel. Now, that mode of transit has been mostly reduced to inter-terminal airport travel and family theme parks. Take a step back in time and gander at these bullet-shaped babies in action. More »
116 miles in an electric vehicle? No problem. But you’ll quite literally be pushing your new Nissan Leaf another 250 miles to achieve what’s being hailed as a world record in Germany. Little Lekker Mobil, a four-seat Audi A2 refitted with an experimental electric powerplant as part of a government sponsored project with Germany’s lekker Energie and DBM Energy, just completed a 372-mile (600-km) stretch of road between Munich and Berlin on a single charge, a journey that lasted around seven hours. Even with the heater running, the modified A2 with fully usable trunk arrived with spare electricity in the “tank.” The battery uses DBM Energy’s KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer Technology said to be 97 percent efficient and chargeable from virtually any socket — plug it into a high voltage DC source and it can be fully charged in just six minutes according to the car’s driver and battery inventor, Mirko Hannemann. While Hannemann wouldn’t be pinned down on pricing for the battery, the 27 year old did say that it would be more powerful and cheaper than conventional lithium ion batteries. He even went so far as to suggest that his company was ready to begin mass production of the batteries now — presumably aided by the large sacks of money he’ll be handed after pulling off the record breaking stunt.
DBM Energy’s electric Audi A2 completes record setting 372 mile drive on a single charge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Oct 2010 03:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Update: Not that we’ve been able to access the site again, looks like the thing could be had for a baseline price of €299 (or roughly $410). Thanks to Thomas and everyone else who pointed this out!
[Thanks, Christian]
Caveat emptor: Custom Android handsets all the rage in Germany? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
You can kind of tell we’re growing ever closer to the Galaxy Tab’s promised November 1 retail launch as prices for this slate just keep coming out of the woodwork, looking ever more solid with each passing day. Vodafone Germany is the latest to reveal the wallet damage Samsung’s 7-inch Android tablet will demand, with a €730 ($1,017) levy for the 16GB version sans contract, or a €300 ($418) cost for those willing to commit to a two-year data plan at €35 a month. We’d advise against taking those direct currency conversions to heart, but the Tab’s pricing here is €30 more than the 32GB iPad WiFi + 3G, making us scratch our heads as to how Samsung believes it’ll manage to convince anyone to buy its smaller, less capacious alternative.
Samsung Galaxy Tab costs €730 from Vodafone.de, €300 if bought with a two-year data plan originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Who needs safety drivers? Not Germany’s Freie University, that’s for sure, which has just demonstrated a self-driving taxi to rival Google’s efforts without a soul at the wheel. This laser, radar and sensor-equipped VW Passat, dubbed “Made in Germany,” has a companion iPad app from Appirion to do all the hard work, too — you just start the program, punch in coordinates and wait for the car to extract itself from a nearby parking lot and pick you up from school. Ladies and gents, the future is now. Watch it right after the break.
[Thanks, Tim]
Continue reading Self-driving taxi picks you up at the press of a button (video)
Self-driving taxi picks you up at the press of a button (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
More fuel for the CDMA iPhone fire today. The Wall Street Journal says that Apple is in talks with both Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices to bring a CDMA version of its iPhone — the one it again says will be on sale at Verizon early next year — to India. The discussions have apparently been ongoing for four or five months according to one WSJ source.
This comes out as news of iPhone exclusivity arrangements are ending in both Germany and The Netherlands. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom loses its exclusive now that both O2 and Vodafone will be offering Apple’s finest before the holidays. In Holland, T-Mobile just lost its exclusive arrangement as both KPN and Vodafone have announced plans to carry the iPhone — no specific dates were mentioned though, like Germany, in time for the holidays is a pretty good guess.
CDMA iPhone rumored for India as exclusivities end in Germany and Holland originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 04:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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LG was naturally expected to show up for today’s announcement seeing how the company has been a longtime “strategic” partner of Microsoft’s — and indeed, they’re bringing two models into the fold. First up is the Quantum (known as the Optimus 7Q in markets outside the US, pictured right) that we broke as the C900 back in August, a landscape slider equipped with quadband EDGE and triband HSPA (850 / 1900 / 2100MHz), 16GB of storage, a 5 megapixel camera with 720p video capture, a 3.5-inch WVGA display, and an all-too-familiar 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon core; as you might have guessed from the 3G bands, this puppy will be coming to AT&T. Next, the Optimus 7 (pictured left) will be seeing a much wider international release on Telus in Canada, America Movil in Mexico, Movistar and Vodafone in Europe, and SingTel in Singapore. What is it, you ask? Well, it’s exactly what you’d figured by now from the leaks — a 3.8-inch WVGA slate at 11.5mm thick with specs that largely mirror the Quantum’s otherwise: 1GHz Snapdragon and 5 megapixel cam, notably. Both models will support “Play To,” the brand name for the DLNA features LG touted back at IFA, allowing users to fling media to DLNA-compatible TVs, set-top boxes, and the like. Expect both the Optimus 7 and 7Q to start rolling out on October 21, eventually deploying in over 35 countries; on AT&T, the Quantum will run $199.99 when it hits in the next few weeks. Follow the break for LG’s full press release.
Continue reading LG Optimus 7, Quantum, and Optimus 7Q welcome Windows Phone 7 to the fold
LG Optimus 7, Quantum, and Optimus 7Q welcome Windows Phone 7 to the fold originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Samsung’s i8910 HD-based Windows Phone 7 prototype has probably been the single most publicly-recognizable face of the platform this year, so it should come as little surprise that the Korean giant has come out swinging with production hardware today — and fortunately, the pair of retail models look nothing (well, very little) like the proto. The Focus is the phone we’ve been calling the i917 Cetus in leaks, a curvy, glossy slate with a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display (presumably ripped right out of the Galaxy S line), a 5 megapixel camera, and support for microSD expansion up to 32GB; it’ll be hitting AT&T in the States. The Omnia 7 is the second model, launching on Orange, SFR, Movistar, and T-Mobile across Europe with the same Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon processor (rare for a Samsung, by the way), 5 megapixel cam, and either 8GB or 16GB on board. Expect both of these to launch in time for the holidays; in fact, the Focus can be yours on AT&T come November 8 for $199.99. Follow the break for Samsung’s Omnia 7 press release.
Continue reading Samsung Focus and Omnia 7 are ready to rock with Windows Phone 7
Samsung Focus and Omnia 7 are ready to rock with Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 09:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Goldline might be a bust (sorry, Glenn), but you’re not gonna let that stop you from preparing for the imminent collapse of society. Or maybe you just want to hang with your friends at the Ayn Rand Book Club (The Fountainhead again?) and they prefer Krugerrands to the fiat currency of the USA. Any way you slice it, Americans (including our friend Scott) have “gold fever.” Luckily, it turns out that the Gold To Go vending machines we saw early this year are on their way to the states. Stocked with up to ten different gold bars or coins, these bad boys accept cash or plastic and use a VPN to phone home to Germany for updates on the cost of precious metals every 10 minutes. They also feature an ID scanner / camera combo for preventing (or at least slowing down) potential money launderers. The devices can be found currently in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, Bankshop in Reutlingen, Germany, The Westin Palace in Madrid, and the Orio al Serio International Airport, and they’ll be hitting Las Vegas and Florida sometime this year. There might also be one next to the Coinstar machine at the Murray Ave. Giant Eagle (we’ll check it out and let you know).
Gold To Go ATMs dispense precious metals to the superwealthy, heading to the states this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Amazon’s German branch has been a tiny bit fast on the trigger. Windows Phone 7 isn’t due to launch at least until October 11, but here we are, dazing dreamily at the first listing of a device bearing the hot new OS: LG’s Optimus 7. Or is it the E900? You can tell Amazon’s offering is way early since the e-tailer has opted to list both names — it now seems like the E900 was the codename and the Optimus branding will be what you see in stores — just to make sure snoopers like us don’t miss out on it. So what’s there to see? Not much actually, official product images are predictably missing and all we’re told is that the handset will cost €499, include a GPS chip, and be capable of filling five million pixels with photonic data and then displaying the results on a 3.5-inch touchscreen. Such teases, these online retailers are.
LG Optimus 7 pops up on Amazon.de with 5 megapixel camera, 3.5-inch touchscreen, €499 price originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 07:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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