2008 June | best tech news

Jun 29 2008

Japanese researchers unveil ultra-light electric car

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Suzuka-based Topia Corp. presented an electric car during the 19th Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions Expo in Tokyo, which weighs just 150kg (330lb). The so-called Huvo is the prototype of a single seat mini car. The Huvo is made of steel, aluminum, carbon fiber reinforced plastic and ABS resin. Topia states the prototype was totally produced […]

Suzuka-based Topia Corp. presented an electric car during the 19th Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions Expo in Tokyo, which weighs just 150kg (330lb). The so-called Huvo is the prototype of a single seat mini vehicle.

The Huvo is made of steel, aluminum, carbon fiber reinforced plastic and ABS resin. Topia says the prototype was totally produced in-house. According to the CEO, other companies trying to manufacture a comparable car would only be able to produce a automobile weighing as much as 300kg.

The company doesn’t mention the invention on its website and at this point, there is no information available regarding possible commercialization of the Huvo in the future.

Via Tech-On

Jun 29 2008

Diablo III announced, and it looks freakin awesome

Posted by: admin in All Tech

OMG OMG OMG. I just woke up and it is like Christmas up in here. I tell you, I am nerding out right now. I’ve been digging through all my old games looking for a Diablo fix lately: Titan Quest was good, Sacred was huge, Dungeon Siege II was almost as good as I remember,and […]

OMG OMG OMG. I just woke up and it is like Christmas up in here. I tell you, I’m nerding out right now. I’ve been digging through all my old games looking for a Diablo fix lately: Titan Quest was good, Sacred was big, Dungeon Siege II was nearly as good as I remember,and Shadowgrounds was scary, but it goes without saying that the king of the hill has always been Diablo II.

Diablo III has been announced, and I’m waiting on the 800MB (!) gameplay trailer, which is being distributed via a dedicated torrent client. Don’t worry guys, I’ll seed (in like 3 days when it’s done — 72KB/s? Come on). In the meantime check out the shots I’ve got here and the shots they’ve got there.

Jun 28 2008

3G iPhone to win tens of thousands of new customers in Germany

Posted by: admin in All Tech

German newspaper Die Welt is reporting in their on the internet version [GER] this day that Apple is about to win tens of thousands of new corporate customers for their iPhone. German mega bank Deutsche Bank and other corporations are apparently willing to add the 3G iPhone to their line-up of cell phones provided to employees. Until now, Blackberry […]

German newspaper Die Welt is reporting in their on the internet version [GER] today that Apple is about to win tens of thousands of new corporate customers for their iPhone.

German mega bank Deutsche Bank and other corporations are apparently willing to add the 3G iPhone to their line-up of cell phones provided to employees. Until now, Blackberry models dominated this market segment in Germany. In the last few weeks, several high-ranking Deutsche Bank executives seem to have forced their employer to take into account the iPhone as an alternative.

Since financial institutions have particularly high security standards, Die Welt reports efforts are currently being made at Deutsche Bank to meet internal demands in this area. Deutsche Bank is the world’s tenth biggest bank.

The newspaper goes on saying T-Mobile [GER] is currently negotiating with several other large German companies to win framework contracts. The German carrier for the 3G iPhone claims they already received “thousands of pre-orders” for the new Apple product from corporate customers.

The 3G iPhone goes on sale in Germany on July 11th.

Jun 28 2008

Possible hands on with Aircell’s GoGo Inflight Wi-Fi service

Posted by: admin in All Tech

American Airlines is quite possibly the most horrendous airline on the face of the planet. I’m waiting for my flight to LA at Gate 12 in JFK. I was supposed to leave at 7:15 ET, but it’s been pushed out to 7:50 ET. So feel free to swing by and say hello and possibly purchase […]

American Airlines is quite possibly the most horrendous airline on the face of the planet. I’m waiting for my flight to LA at Gate 12 in JFK. I was supposed to leave at 7:15 ET, but it’s been pushed out to 7:50 ET. So feel free to swing by and state hello and possibly buy me a beer. Although, I don’t see a bar anywhere around. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my flight has Aircell’s GoGo service.

Big ups to Samsung for providing me with a Mobile Charging Station!

*Why am I not taking Virgin America?*

Jun 27 2008

Full-page ad showing Xbox 360 price cut revealed: Should happen at E3 week

Posted by: admin in All Tech

That Xbox 360 price drop rumor is gaining traction. This is the full-page Kmart ad; isn’t it grand? More importantly, the flyer where the ad is from is for the week of July 13, which coincides with E3 week. Don’t put it past Microsoft to use the pared down trade show to announce price cuts.

That Xbox 360 price drop rumor is gaining traction. This is the full-page Kmart ad; isn’t it grand?

More importantly, the flyer where the ad is from is for the week of July 13, which coincides with E3 week. Don’t put it past Microsoft to use the pared down trade show to announce price cuts.

Jun 27 2008

Intel not down with this Windows Vista scam

Posted by: admin in All Tech

According to the NYT Intel won’t upgrade their 80,000 employee personal to Vista, at least according to an internal that is making everyone in the IT industry giggle like tiny girls. The IT staff at Intel found “no compelling case” for adopting Vista and that it will still use Vista in test scenarios in […]

According to the NYT Intel will not upgrade their 80,000 employee personal to Vista, at least according to an internal that’s making everyone in the IT industry giggle like tiny girls. The IT staff at Intel found “no compelling case” for adopting Vista and that it will still use Vista in test scenarios in some departments.

What does this mean? Well, it will definitely mean a Microsoft stock hit as Wall Street panics on the news. It also means anticipate an update “Business Vista” coming soon with special business features like using the XP theme right out of the box.

Jun 26 2008

Liquid lenses coming to webcams near you

Posted by: admin in All Tech

For the “extremely small camera” sector, this could be a real boon. These liquid lenses are fixed in place within the camera, manipulated using electricity, and — well, I’ll let Varioptic explain it: It works much like the human eye, using electricity to alter the shape of two drops of liquid, to bend light, modify focus, […]

For the “extremely small camera” sector, this could be a real boon. These liquid lenses are fixed in place within the camera, manipulated using electricity, and — well, I’ll let Varioptic explain it:

It works much like the human eye, using electricity to alter the shape of two drops of liquid, to bend light, modify focus, and produce a miniature, yet powerful (multi-megapixel) lens for a variety of applications

Yes, that sounds exactly like the human eye. But joking aside, this is a really cool idea and considering the continual need to shrink lenses and how crappy most tiny fixed lenses are, it may actually find some real traction. That they can make it work in a fast autofocus situation like a webcam is promising. It always takes some doing to displace a product on the market (especially one with as much inertia as the glass lens) but it’s always worthwhile to try. I hope I get to see one of these tiny things perform soon.

Jun 25 2008

T-Mobile @Home offers $10 per month unlimited VOIP

Posted by: admin in All Tech

Starting July 2nd, existing T-Mobile customers will be able to add unlimited VOIP home phone service for $10 extra per month, plus a one-time outlay of $50 for a T-Mobile-branded Linksys wireless router with built-in VOIP functionality. The router has two SIM card slots inside and, as such, can handle two separate phone numbers. You’ll get […]

t-mo

Starting July 2nd, existing T-Mobile customers will be able to add unlimited VOIP home phone service for $10 extra per month, plus a one-time outlay of $50 for a T-Mobile-branded Linksys wireless router with built-in VOIP functionality. The router has two SIM card slots inside and, as such, can handle two separate phone numbers.

You’ll get an additional number on top of your current cell phone number or you can port your existing landline number over if you’ve one. The offer is available for individual mobile plans running $39.99 and up per month or family plans over $49.99 per month. The VOIP service requires a broadband connection and includes unlimited local and nationwide calling, voicemail, call waiting, and caller ID.

I’ve been testing the service for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been very impressed. The setup was dead easy and the call quality has been outstanding. I’ve had Vonage, SunRocket, and Lingo in the past and there have always been occasional hiccups and audio dropouts here and there but this is the first service I’ve used that’s actually been mostly transparent. I had the whole system up and running in about 15 minutes and haven’t touched it since, which is a good sign.

If I were a T-Mobile customer, I’d absolutely add this to my account for $10 per month. It’s a no-brainer unless you’re on an unlimited mobile plan. And if you’re on a plan with a ton of minutes that you don’t end up using each month, you could even drop down to a cheaper calling plan and then add the @Home service to make up for the difference in minutes.

The service has been available in Seattle and Dallas for a while now but will be available nationwide on July 2nd. It’ll be interesting to see how (or if) other carriers react with similar offerings. The pricing is really aggressive for something like this so I wouldn’t be surprised to see current and new customers adding it to their accounts.

HotSpot @Home [T-Mobile.com]