Hasta La Gadget!

Porsche has already tricked out its racing cars with kinetic energy recovery systems, and now it looks like its more mainstream 911 is getting the hybrid transmission treatment, too. Citing anonymous sources, our sister site Autoblog reports that the entire range of the next-gen coupe is going to use these systems, which don’t store energy in a battery, but instead capture kinetic energy during deceleration using a flywheel mechanism. Even without that sleuthing, a series of spy shots (including that one up there) reveal that the auto maker has expanded the wheelbase length by just enough so that it can accommodate a KERS between the gearbox and the engine. What does this mean for the 911? Well, these same sources say the entry-level Carrera is on track to surpass its rated 4.7-second 0 to 60 time and that it will generally be lighter, faster, more energy-efficient, and go farther on a gallon. Can’t afford a low-end Porsche? Well, you can still ogle the eye candy at the source link.

Next-gen Porsche 911 getting hybrid transmission system? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 20:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anyone lucid during the past 24 hours won’t be particularly shocked to see the arrival of Lenovo’s slick new all-in-one — though the thing is officially becoming official a day before originally anticipated. Not surprisingly, the company’s really playing up aesthetics with the ThinkCentre Edge 91z, calling it the thinnest AIO, at 2.5 inches — and certainly its thinner than, say, the HP TouchSmart 610. The centerpiece of the system is that glossy 21.5-inch widescreen HD Infinity LED display (1920 x 1200), which is capable of playing back HD video with ease.

The system ships with an optional spill-proof wireless keyboard, featuring the familiar chiclet design we’ve seen in recent Edge model notebooks, and while the omission of Lenovo’s customary pointing stick certainly feels glaring, the bright red clickwheel on the Edge wireless mouse makes up a bit for that loss. The 91z also packs built-in speakers, a 2MP webcam, six USB ports, Windows 7, and a 6-in-1 card reader.

At the high end, you’ll get an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, AMD Radeon HD6650A 1GB graphics, 8GB of DDR3 memory, and either a 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA HDD or an 80GB mSATA SSD — either way, Lenovo says the system boots 30 percent quicker than “non-optimized” systems, though the latter promises to have you up and running in a breezy 20 seconds. It’ll begin shipping in June, with pricing starting at $699. Press release after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo’s ultraslim ThinkCentre 91z All-in-One gets official, starts at $699

Lenovo’s ultraslim ThinkCentre 91z All-in-One gets official, starts at $699 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 May 2011 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For a purportedly doomed manufacturer of magnetic storage, Seagate sure is spinning some interesting ideas these days — last year, we got modular, upgradable cables, and now the company’s testing external hard drives that don’t need pesky wires to function. According to filings, the Seagate GoFlex Satellite not only plays the network-attached-storage card with built-in 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, it’s also got a 3.7V battery inside its case… making the product’s name somewhat apt, don’t you think? According to a leaked description, Seagate’s also planning a companion iOS app called “GoFlex Media” to let your iDevices stream content directly from the device. Mind you, none of that means you won’t be able to dock with your Satellite the old-fashioned way — FCC docs also mention a USB 3.0 cable that delivers data and power simultaneously.

FCC reveals Seagate GoFlex Satellite, a WiFi-capable battery-powered external hard drive originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 May 2011 13:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it looks like ViewSonic is finally digging its Android tablets out of the Froyo doldrums and, what’s more, it may be first to market with a Honeycomb slate of the seven-inch variety. According to Pocket-lint, the company will debut the Tegra 2-powered ViewPad 7x at Computex later this month. The 7x will supposedly pack WiFi, HSPA+, and an HDMI port while weighing in at a svelte 0.84 pounds. Oh, and it’s got a design on the back that is supposed to make it look “funky”… or something. There’s no word on price but, it’s rumored to hit shelves in June.

ViewSonic 7x shrinks Honeycomb to 7 inches for the tiny handed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 May 2011 01:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, the all too familiar WiFi troubleshooting dance: the network goes down, you dig through the closet for an Ethernet cable, saunter over to the router, jack yourself in, type in the IP address, and start poking around at your settings. Cisco’s REN301 Residential Gateway (a fancy way of saying “router”), which just passed through the FCC, could make things at least a little bit easier thanks to its built-in LCD screen and capacitive touch controls. Wave your hand over the display to bring it to life and you can check the status of your connections, modify some basic settings, and peruse a log of calls that have come in over the SIP VoIP phone jacks. The REN301, which has a single band 802.11b/g/n radio, can also turn USB drives and SD cards into NAS storage — the company even throws in a 32GB card to get you started. We don’t have a price or release date, but since it’s been splayed open for federal regulators we probably won’t have to wait long. There’s a couple of pics of the router’s UI after the break.

Continue reading LCD-equipped Cisco REN301 Residential Gateway stops by FCC, reveals all its dirty secrets

LCD-equipped Cisco REN301 Residential Gateway stops by FCC, reveals all its dirty secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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