Archive for April 19th, 2009

Just hours after General Motors put forth a proposal for a standardized plug for electric vehicles, in flies this. German energy firm RWE has stated that a cadre of respected automakers and energy firms have all come together in agreement on a three-point, 400-volt plug that will enable electric cars the world over to be recharged anywhere, regardless of which recharging station they stop at. Caroline Reichert, an RWE spokeswoman, noted that the idea here is to ensure that “a car can be recharged in Italy in exactly the same way as in Denmark, Germany or France.” We’re told that the agreement includes nods of acceptance from the likes of Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Eon, Vattenfall, EDF, Npower, Endesa and Enel, and while there’s no time frame for when it’ll be introduced, we’re pretty stoked to hear that at least something has been decided upon.

Filed under: Transportation

Automakers agree on common plug to recharge electric vehicles originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 16:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trust us, we’ve seen some significantly distorted sneak peeks before, but the three Pentax DSLR shots in the links below are certainly amongst the blurriest to ever tease our retinas. Obviously, it’s next to impossible to glean anything other than the brand (Pentax) and style (DSLR) from the shots, though we will say that the mode dial’s copious amount options has our interest piqued. Give ‘em a look if you’re not susceptible to motion sickness, and feel free to dish out your wildest accusations in comments below.

Update: Could these be non-blurry pics? Or just meaningless renders? You decide. Thanks, Andrew!

Read – First sneak peek
Read – The other two

Filed under: Digital Cameras

New Pentax DSLR shots blur the boundaries of Mr. Blurrycam originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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mophie’s Juice Pack Air — better known as the planet’s thinnest iPhone 3G extended battery and case — doesn’t officially go on sale until Tuesday, but we’ve been toying with one over the weekend in order to share with you whether or not it’s a solid buy. We have to say, our early impressions are pretty positive, and if you’re hankering to know more, follow us past the break for a few more details.

Continue reading mophie Juice Pack Air hands-on and impressions

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals

mophie Juice Pack Air hands-on and impressions originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Right on cue, Samsung’s retooled Instinct (that’d be the Instinct S30, if you had any doubts) has gone on sale at Sprint. You’ll also notice that the $129.99 on-contract price we heard about is completely in tact, despite the fact that Best Buy Mobile could be selling this same handset in stores later this week for $80 less. At any rate, those champing at the bit to get one headed their way can now do so after choosing between Cobalt Metal and Touch of Copper hues, and if you’re looking to snag one with no strings attached, you’ll be paying $449.99 in order to do so.

[Thanks, Mike]

Filed under: Cellphones

Samsung Instinct S30 now on sale at Sprint: $129.99 on contract originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s only been available for a few short months but HP has already seen fit to give its flagship Firebird 802 gaming desktop a fairly sizable price drop — $500, to be specific. That includes a $150 cut to the $1,799 base price and a $350 instant rebate that brings the price down to a pretty darn reasonable $1,299, questionable keyboards aside. For those that haven’t been pricing gaming rigs lately, that’ll get you a Core 2 Quad 9400 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800S graphics cards (with 512MB of DDR3 memory on each card). Of course, any price drop of this size also invariably bring of the question “why?” and, in the case, the reasons are still a bit hazy. While HP discontinuing the line outright seems to almost certainly be out of the question, a slight revision does seem at least possible, if not necessarily imminent — although, any way you shake it, $500 off is $500 off, so we’re not complaining.

[Thanks, Ali]

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

HP Firebird 802 gaming rig gets $500 price drop originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as Buffalo did in December of last year, OCZ Technology is busting out a duo of netbook / notebook-ready SSDs in 16GB and 32GB capacities. Obviously aimed at the smaller, more low-cost machines, the company’s first ever Mini-PCIe solid state drives are a so-called “affordable flash-based storage option to significantly increase the capacity for netbooks.” The pair will be available in SATA and PATA interfaces, which will deliver read speeds of up to 110MB/sec and write speeds as high as 51MB/sec (or 45MB/sec [read] and 35MB/sec [write] for the PATA versions). Regrettably, there’s no mention of price, but you can bet these will come packed in a specced-out version of the firm’s Neutrino.

Filed under: Storage

OCZ outs its first Mini-PCIe SSDs in 16GB / 32GB capacities originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/19/chryslers-peapod-ev-lets-ipod-double-as-ignition-key/’;

That unassuming iPod dock we saw in Chrysler GEM’s Peapod prototype? Turns out it’s got a pretty interesting little trick, allowing your iPhone / iPod double as the ignition key. According to the EV’s brochure, the company’s got an app that makes all the magic work, and if you wish to start your car in an old-school manner, keys are still a viable option. Sure, it’s not the first example of car-phone integration we’ve come across, it’s a welcome addition to the oddly-shaped neighborhood whip that’s going beyond concept phase into production this October.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video, Transportation

Chrysler’s Peapod EV lets iPod double as ignition key originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Largely under the radar since its CES debut — and even then there wasn’t much to say, frankly — Velocity Micro’s 10.2-inch NoteMagix M10 is on sale with an April 30 estimated ship date. Base price is $380, and color notwithstanding (it comes in red, blue, and black), the only customization option really is a DVD writer for $70. What you do get, however, is the usual spec list that comes along with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, along with the pleasant surprise of a 6-cell battery. The big question now is if there’s really enough here to divert attention from any of the other, more dominant brands in this hyper-saturated netbook market.

[Via PC Launches]

Filed under: Laptops

Velocity Micro’s Atom N270-packing NoteMagix M10 coming this month for $380 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 06:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The last time we saw the Pre’s Classic Palm OS emulator in action, we had a few lingering questions in our mind, chief among them being how well can it game? From the looks of this latest video, released by Motion Apps to answer that very question, pretty well so far. In addition to confirming sound support for the latest build, we also get a brief glimpse of the software handling 3D driver GTS World Racer. Of course, seeing this makes us even more curious about the gaming potential for the native webOS, but alas, we’re in the cold there. In the meantime, check out some classic 3D racing in the video after the break.

Continue reading New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

New Pre Classic emulator video shows off 3D gaming prowess originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a long and winding road filled with unboxings, impressions, and comparisons, but it looks like the last few details surrounding the U.S. release of Viliv’s Atom-powered S5 MID have now finally been firmed up. According to retailer Dynamism, the device will be available for pre-order on April 27th (at 1PM Eastern) for just $599, or $50 less than previously expected, with the first orders expected to ship on May 8th. Better still, those that pre-order the S5 will also get a free spare battery, a car kit, and a leather pouch, which Dynamism says is a $135 value. No word on the number of units available in that initial batch but, if the Hong Kong and Korean releases are any indication, they could sell out pretty quickly.

[Via thegadgetsite, thanks K.C.]

Filed under: Handhelds

Viliv S5 pre-order details firm up: $599 and it’s yours May 8th originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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