Hasta La Gadget!

With gas prices topping $4.50 per gallon in some parts of the country, a car that costs a fraction of a penny per mile to drive (and looks like it belongs on the road) is sure to get our attention. The 275-pound, 2,200MPG Celeritas appears to be the closest we’ve come to having a solar-powered car that could one day take to the streets, however, which explains why the vehicle scored first prize in the Urban Concept category in this year’s Shell Eco-marathon. While it can only transport a single person (the driver), the car includes headlights, taillights, a trunk and even backup cameras. Notably absent from this version are air conditioning and a license plate — the latter of which would (naturally) be required before the car becomes street legal. The Purdue University design team chose “Celeritas” (Latin for “swiftness”) as the name for this soon-to-be-street-legal roadster, though in a category that’s notorious for slower vehicles, we wouldn’t expect the prototype to fly past us in the fast lane. Perhaps we can get Celeritas and IVy together for some alone time before we’re dropping Hamiltons for a gallon of regular?

Purdue’s Celeritas car scores 2,200MPG from the sun, wins Shell Eco-marathon originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s only been 109 days since Meizu’s remarkable launch of the M9 Android, but as we all know, there’s nothing stopping our man Jack Wong from teasing his next flagship phone on his forum. Previously known as the M9II, Wong has now renamed this 4-inch handset to MX — apparently short for “meng xiang” or “dream” in Mandarin Chinese, though X can also cunningly double up as the Roman numeral for 10 here. Also shared is the above real-life shot of an MX mock-up — not far off from the earlier render — which is appropriately seen chillaxing on the CEO’s bed. In a separate forum thread, we’re told that HDMI and coaxial digital audio outputs will be present on the MX, and a 16GB model will be released by the end of the year probably for ¥3,580 ($548). While this is a significant jump from the M9’s ¥2,699 ($413), Wong insists that both phones share the same profit margin, and frankly, this will still be a pretty good deal for some Cortex-A9 goodness under a larger screen. We’ll be right here waiting for you, Meizu; or we could just pop by your factory again some time.

Update: Jack Wong’s also confirmed HSPA+ support for some sweet 21Mbps download speed. The phone’s getting better by the minute!

Continue reading Meizu MX to be Jack Wong’s next dream phone, coming with HDMI-out by year’s end (update: HSPA+)

Meizu MX to be Jack Wong’s next dream phone, coming with HDMI-out by year’s end (update: HSPA+) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t be fooled by the “concept” label that ABB has affixed to its new robot. There can be only one logical conclusion to this endeavor: FRIDA and its ilk will one day replace the millions of young Chinese workers assembling our gadgets. It’s no coincidence that this uniquely agile, dual-arm robot is compact enough to “fit into spaces ergonomically designed for human workers” and can be carried around “easily” to begin work with a minimum of installation requirements. In fact, ABB admits that several prototypes are already being piloted. The obvious advantage for Foxconn and friends is that FRIDA doesn’t require a swimming pool, cafeteria, housing, or professional counseling to keep out of the dormitory nets. Watch FRIDA obey the first law of robotics at the 44 second mark of the video posted after the break as assembly line workers everywhere lament their lack of a handle.

[Thanks, Johannes]

Continue reading FRIDA ‘concept’ robot will solve all of Foxconn’s problems by replacing its workers (video)

FRIDA ‘concept’ robot will solve all of Foxconn’s problems by replacing its workers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ah, would you look at that. Earlier this year there were rumors about Apple ditching the physical home button on upcoming iOS devices, and now we have what appears to be a new iPod touch prototype matching such description, courtesy of CrunchGear via Mr. Blurrycam. According to its About screen, this “DVT-1” (a late milestone) device packs 128GB of memory — twice as much as the largest available capacity option right now (remember that 64GB iPhone 4 prototype in Hong Kong?) — as well as a model number “MC550LL” which isn’t far off from those of the fourth-gen iPod touches (“MC54xLL”), though this similarity doesn’t help prove its authenticity nor indicate whether it’ll make it to the market. Still, if Apple does go ahead with this grubby device or at least its capacitive home button, we might see new touch or gesture controls for the bezel area below the screen à la webOS, as suggested by an earlier patent. But hey, let’s not take this too seriously for now — all this could turn out to be just a much belated April Fools’ prank, right?

iPod touch prototype with capacitive home button leaked? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, two words, sounds like… wait, it’s one word? Okay, two words in one. First word, three letters, sounds like “arm.” Oh, it is “arm.” Okay, second word. You’re typing. Typing on keys. It’s keyboard. It’s not a keyboard? No, it is a keyboard. The word isn’t “keyboard?” Really? Maybe “keypad?” It’s “keypad!” What the heck is an ArmKeypad? Turns out it’s NEC‘s attempt at letting us control our portable devices using charades-like gestures, which we first heard about last week. You can tap your arms in different places to control volume or skip tracks, even clap your hands if you’re happy and your want your PMP to know it. The system relies on a wrist-borne accelerometer that detects the impacts and, while the video below looks a bit goofy, that’s far better than fumbling with your smartphone while sucking wind on your thrice-weekly runs. And, it’s certainly far simpler than the projected Skinput. NEC expects to have this tech built into a watch-like device sometime within the next two years. That watch had better have a calculator.

Continue reading NEC’s ArmKeypad lets you play charades to control your media player (video)

NEC’s ArmKeypad lets you play charades to control your media player (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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