Hasta La Gadget!

If you have the money to consider owning a Rolls, we doubt you’re worried about gasoline, but that hasn’t stopped the manufacturer from finally electrifying its Spirit of Ecstasy. Two years after teasing a fully-electric Phantom, Rolls-Royce has built the car for real, a one-off prototype it’s dubbed the 102EX, or Phantom Experimental Electric. You won’t be able to buy one, though, no matter your estate, as rather than produce the vehicle Rolls is taking it on a world tour to gauge the reaction of the luxury automobile community. First stop: the Geneva Motor Show on March 1st, where the company will reveal the vehicle’s full technical specs. While you wait, you’re welcome to peruse the entirely unhelpful video teaser and modestly useful press release after the break.

Continue reading Rolls-Royce electrifies Phantom sedan, tests the waters of luxury (video)

Rolls-Royce electrifies Phantom sedan, tests the waters of luxury (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look, you can’t say no to a $99 electronic ink drawing tablet, but to believe that that his here NoteSlate has any chance of retailing at that price you’d also need the naiveté of a child who accepts free candies from strangers. While we remain skeptical, said tablet’s website has just been updated with a new stash of product shots and an in-depth walkthrough, which are kinda convincing if you ignore the price tag. The mono-color models are here to stay as well, though we should point out that there’s a $30 alternative, already available, from Improv Electronics for those who need nothing more than just doodling. Otherwise, keep an eye out for the NoteSlate come June.

[Thanks, Eddie]

Filed under: Tablet PCs

NoteSlate teased with new product shots, moves one step away from vaporware status originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t say we really expected to see Texas Instruments’ DLP group here at Mobile World Congress, but it’s hard to deny just how mobile these things are becoming. In fact, the company came to Barcelona to (re)unveil its thinnest, smallest optical engine to date: the nHD Pico. It’s small enough to fit into just about anything — phones, slates, tiny projectors and the rear of your cranium should you choose to embed it there. As for specs? It’s sporting a 640 x 360 resolution, a contrast ratio greater than 1,000:1, a true RGB LED wide color gamut and reliance on a low-power Pico DPP2601 / 2607 ASIC / processor. TI was using a newly launched Acer device (the C20, if we’re being precise) to showcase the chip, and on-site representatives noted that other outfits are developing new kit with this guy in mind. In related news, another gem was on display that hasn’t quite made it to market yet. The palm-sized nugget you see above is a full-on pico projector, designed to be powered entirely via USB. There’s no built-in battery in this one, and no one would confess as to which company (or companies) were gearing up to ship a branded version of it later this year. That said, it’s most certainly on the way, and you can bet we’ll be keeping an eye out for it. Peruse the gallery’s below at your leisure, of course.

Texas Instruments shows off minuscule nHD Pico projector chipset, USB-powered prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you want to look for life on another planet you don’t build one radio telescope that’s miles wide, you build a bunch of smaller ones and create an array out of them. As it turns out that basic idea works for capturing visible wavelengths as well. It’s called a plenoptic camera, using an array of very small lenses that, when combined, can create an image as good as a larger one. Pelican Imaging is largely interested in the slim factor this kind of system could offer, potentially allowing for thinner phones, but this could also open the door to some interesting effects. Check out the video after the break for an example of the dynamic aperture control this sort of setup can allow, where you can change the focal plane of an image after it was taken. Given the small size of the array here you probably couldn’t do anything too crazy, like take a picture through a tree, but the days of poorly focused cameraphone shots might finally be at an end — whenever this actually comes to market.

Continue reading Pelican Imaging’s prototype array camera could make your pictures better, phones thinner (video)

Pelican Imaging’s prototype array camera could make your pictures better, phones thinner (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Feb 2011 11:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Entering any kind of text using a console gamepad is an exercise in frustration. Certain games have offered innovative solutions, like Beyond Good and Evil‘s infinitely spiraling letters, but none quite as simple as Circboard. It basically splits the keyboard into bunches, with the left analog stick on an Xbox 360 controller selecting a group of letters and then the right stick or buttons grabbing a specific letter. Shoulder bumpers handle space and backspace, while the left trigger does caps. Simple, easy — and as of now just a demo. But, the team is looking to get its idea into a variety of games and other console apps, and they’re looking for investors. You always did say that mutual funds were boring…

Update: Alfredo wrote in with some prior art that might make patenting this approach somewhat… difficult.

Continue reading Circboard brings fast typing to console controllers (video)

Circboard brings fast typing to console controllers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Feb 2011 06:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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