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Helios solar concept car is bird-like in that it evolved from lizards, has wings

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We'd stick out if were to drive the Helios concept car down the Long Island Expressway or the 405, but almost every other solar-powered car we've seen looked like an old Trabant cursed with further ugliness by a wicked witch, so considering the circumstances we're impressed. The sadly-only-on-paper vehicle netted designer Kim Gu-Han the Best Use of Technology award at the 2008 Interior Motives Design Awards for its frill-neck lizard-inspired solar fan, which unfolds when the car is immobile. If the renders are any indication, though, it's meant only for Martians -- please tell Marvin we're jealous, cause the eco-friendly cars we get now generally look like they were designed by someone with all the exuberance and colorful panache of Al Gore.

Helios solar concept car is bird-like in that it evolved from lizards, has wings originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba’s “timesculpture” ad is bullet time meets Feist, or something equally impressive

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Yeah, we confess we're nerds and watched all that behind-the-scenes stuff on the Matrix DVD -- when it's the only DVD you own, you gotta get your money's worth. If you'll recall (don't try and deny it), the much-lauded "bullet time" effect was accomplished by surrounding the leather-bedecked Keanu with dozens of digital still cameras to capture every millisecond of his limbo moves from every angle. Commercials aplenty soon co-opted the technology to push their wares, but Toshiba is flipping that formula here, hiring an ad agency with its very own bullet time vareint called "timesculpture" to plug Toshiba's XDE technology. A circular rig with 200 Gigashot HD camcorders and 20,000 gigabytes of data later, they created this little number, which mixes full motion video, Matrix camera moves and a healthy dash of hipsterism. Check it out after the break.

Toshiba's "timesculpture" ad is bullet time meets Feist, or something equally impressive originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco teams up with Yankees to bring HDTV experience to the new stadium

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The new Yankee Stadium is going to be all tech-ed up by Cisco, according to an announcement made by Hal Steinbrenner on an impressive telepresence conference call this morning. The partnership has already yielded about $15 million of wiring and infrastructure for the stadium, with more promised. So what does this mean for you, the rabid Yankees fan, at the game? Well, they're calling it a new "fan experience," but for now, it essentially boils down to 1,100 HD video monitors all over the stadium doing things like playing "interactive" video, giving stats in real time, and offering the ability to do truly wild stuff like order concessions from your seat and see how long the line at the nearest bathroom is. If it sounds too good to be true well, it's not -- kind of. Most of these features will supposedly be available when the stadium opens, though only in the luxury boxes... but Steinbrenner claims that infrastructure is already in place which will allow the stadium to provide these extras for everyone in the house eventually. We also hear there's going to be WiFi throughout the stadium, and that one 16 ounce Budweiser will run you $24.50. As long as we can count on them to use those thousand monitors to get people to do the wave while listening to "Cotton-Eyed Joe," we're there.

[Via The LoHud Yankees Blog; Thanks Joe P.]

Cisco teams up with Yankees to bring HDTV experience to the new stadium originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPosture unleashed upon world, wants you to know you’re not standing up straight

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Remember the iPosture? That little button-sized nano-sensor you attach to your body which then vibrates any time you slouch or strike a less-than-optimal pose? The one which supposedly improves your posture, making you look thinner and taller, feel more confident, and also doubles as a hot piece of jewelry? Well, it's available now for the pretty reasonable price of $89.95 with a free copy of "Young, Sexy and Healthy" -- which you were probably considering buying anyway. If you're one of those people who can never get enough of being nagged at over your seemingly minuscule flaws, this just may be the perfect device for you.

iPosture unleashed upon world, wants you to know you're not standing up straight originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon locks in BlackBerry Storm launch for November 24 at $199.99?

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Murphy's Law dictated from the very beginning that Verizon's claim of a November launch for the Storm meant late November (at best), and indeed, it now looks like that's where we're headed. Boy Genius Report has picked up some juicy documentation that seems to suggest that November 24 is the zero day with a $199.99 retail price after rebate; what's more, stores will be opening an hour early to accomodate the throngs of rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth businessmen and businesswomen in Zegna suits looking for their latest BlackBerry fix. It looks like there'll also be a "pre-launch" on the 20th, meaning customers Verizon really cares about -- not us, by any stretch of the imagination -- will have a chance stroll into one of 123 extra-special corporate stores to tool around with a demo unit and place their order in person. Either way, stores are expected to have tons of units available for sale on the 24th, so don't show up at 8pm the night before. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

Verizon locks in BlackBerry Storm launch for November 24 at $199.99? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hawaiian analog TV shutoff to come early, saving God’s creatures

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Technological progress marches forward, assimilating all those who resist -- we know this well in our line of work, but sometimes you've got to stand up and say, "The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!" Take the digital TV transition in the United States for example: all the analog TV signals will be shut off in February. It won't be pretty, but it'll be progress. Hawaii, though, has a dilemma: it just so happens that the analog towers that'll be torn down are awfully close to the nests of the state's adorable and endangered petrel birds, whose nesting season also occurs in February. Hence Hawaii's digital switch will occur a month early on January 15th, so you 17,000 affected Hawaiians have that much less time to grab converter boxes, or you'll end up watching the next season of Lost in person on your beautiful beaches instead of your ancient tube televisions.

Hawaiian analog TV shutoff to come early, saving God's creatures originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s XPS 430 tower makes a stealth entrance

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Dell made a lot of noise about its otherwise-ordinary Art House laptops today, but we didn't hear a peep about the XPS 430 desktops that slid online as well. The update to the XPS 420 now starts with a 6GB rack of DDR3 RAM and an updated selection of Intel Core 2 Quad processors running on a 1,333MHz bus with 256MB ATI Radeon HD 3450 graphics -- the base $1,307 model has a 2.33GHz Q8200 while the higher-powered $1,767 configuration has a 2.5GHz Q9300 and comes bundled with a 22-inch SP2208WFP LCD. True to Dell form, you can go crazy on the BTO tip and order the 430 jacked with a 3.0GHz QX9650 Core 2 Extreme, 8GB of RAM, a 2TB RAID, and Blu-ray burner for $3,267, but we've got a feeling those less-insane stock configurations might sell just a hair better when orders start shipping in November.

[Via Electronista]

Dell's XPS 430 tower makes a stealth entrance originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gibson kicks out the Dark Fire second-gen Robot Guitar

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Gibson's limited-edition Robot Guitar was undeniably cool when we played with it last year, and it looks like the sequel's going to be even hotter -- say hello to Dark Fire. The flame-red axe features a second-generation Robot tuning system can get up to pitch in less than a second -- and not only is it smaller and lighter than the weighty original, battery life has been significantly extended to 500 tunings on a single charge. Once you're in tune, you'll be able to make almost any noise you want with the Chameleon Tone system: in addition to a P90 and a bridge-mounted humbucker, there's a third piezo pickup in the bridge that can be blended with the standard units for what Gibson called an "incredible array of tonal possibilities." In case that's not enough for you, the Dark Fire also ships with the Robot Interface Pack, a powered breakout box that lets you integrate your axe into almost any digital audio workflow you can dream up: there's two quarter-inch balanced line outs, headphone out, FireWire (sorry, MacBook owners), and a special hex connector that carries the output of each string from the piezo pickup -- these can either be broken out into individual quarter-inch outputs or used to control MIDI guitar controllers with an adapter. Original Robot owners aren't being left out: Gibson says it'll upgrade them for "close to cost," after the Dark Fire launches on December 15th. Pretty wild, all in all, but we'll wait for pricing information to hit before we consider trading in our battered old Tele.

[Via Music Radar]

Gibson kicks out the Dark Fire second-gen Robot Guitar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Philips iPill — it’s like a regular pill, but with a microprocessor

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It's been just about a year since we saw the patent for Philips' remote control "pill," and it looks like the thing is finally a reality. For those of you straining to remember that far back, the iPill (as it is now sadly known) is a miniature capsule that among its many charms contains a microprocessor, power supply, medicine reservoir and pump, and a radio so that it can remain in contact with external medical equipment. The pill's ability to accurately determine its position in the digestive tract enables it to deliver drugs precisely where they're needed, reducing dosage strength and side effects. According to Philips, the current design is a prototype, but it's suitable for serial manufacturing. Of course, this is not the first robot pill we've seen -- and it certainly won't be the last. Just the same, we think we'll refrain from swallowing any nanotech for the time being.

Philips iPill -- it's like a regular pill, but with a microprocessor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DISH Network’s DTVPal DVR converter box set to roll out in December

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This unassuming little device first popped up way back at CES in January, where it was known as the Echostar TR-50, but it looks like it's now finally going to see the light of day courtesy of DISH Network, which has dubbed it the DTVPal. From the looks of it, however, there's not a whole lot of changes beyond the name, with it still promising to handle the digital-to-analog conversion with ease, and record 30 hours of HD video or 150 hours of standard-def -- a task made considerably easier with the included seven-day programming guide which, best of all, doesn't require a subscription or contract. If that sounds like the box you've been waiting for, you'll be able to get your pre-order in on November 19th for $250 (after a $50 instant rebate), with the device supposedly set to start shipping in mid-December.

DISH Network's DTVPal DVR converter box set to roll out in December originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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V-Moda’s Vibe II, platform shoes not included

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There must be a fashion-forward young man or woman out there brave enough to sport V-Moda's new Vibe II with Microphone. These stainless steel alloy headphones follow in the footsteps of the popular (and much better looking) Vibe Duo and feature the noise-isolation, in-line handsfree microphone, call and music controls that we expect from the line. In addition, the 'phones possess "solid and tactual sensation comparable to the finest jewelry and watches." Right. If you'd like to see for yourself, these beauts are available for $128, exclusively at the Apple Store.

V-Moda's Vibe II, platform shoes not included originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Toshiba, Viewsonic launch new widescreen projectors

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Those in the market for a business / education-minded projector certainly aren't hurting for options these days, but if you somehow still haven't found one to your liking, you may want to consider one of these new models from Toshiba and Viewsonic. At about four pounds apiece, they're reasonably portable, and pack the same WXGA resolution along with some other similar specs across the board, including a 600:1 contrast ratio and 2,220 ANSI lumens on the Toshiba TLP-WX1000U, and a 500:1 contrast ratio and 2,000 lumens on the Viewsonic PJ359w. The Viewsonic also adds HDMI 1.3 connectivity to the mix, not to mention a short-throw lens, though you'll have to decide for yourself if that's worth the higher $1,299 list price or not, compared to just $959 for the Toshiba.

Read - Toshiba TLP-WX1000U
Read - Viewsonic PJ359w

Toshiba, Viewsonic launch new widescreen projectors originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell’s Studio 15 and 17 get art-housed for (PRODUCT) RED

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Dell is set to expand upon its Art House series of Studio laptops with three new special edition designs for (PRODUCT) RED. That's right: now you can have an arty Dell and do some good at the same time, with the choice of three different artists: Joseph Amedokpo, Siobhan Gunning and Bruce Mau. The custom designs will be available on Dell's Studio 15 and 17 models for $649 and $799 respectively, and a $20 contribution will be made to The Global Fund for AIDS programs in Africa for each one sold. Dell claims that the art is "permanently infused" on the casing and totally durable, so, just like when deciding on a tattoo, be sure you're really committed before the purchase. And if you're too cool for these designs, well, maybe your slightly hip, gaudy great Aunt will be interested. Regardless, they're available now online.

Dell's Studio 15 and 17 get art-housed for (PRODUCT) RED originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Das Keyboard Professional hits US retail stores

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Keyboard aficionados have been able to order the Das Keyboard Professional directly from the company for a little while now, but those that prefer to check out their keyboards up close before committing will no doubt be pleased to hear that it's now also available at two US retailers: Micro Center and J&R Music and Computer World. The price apparently stays the same at $129, which'll get you those trademark mechanical switches, a two-port USB hub, a glossy black finish, and a couple of blue LEDs to jazz things up a bit. Those interested in the blank key-equipped Das Keyboard II are out of luck, however, as it's still only available online.

Das Keyboard Professional hits US retail stores originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kairen’s Projector X Pro920M is small, but not impressively so

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The tiny projector craze has really been heating up as of late, and the introduction of the Kairen Projector X Pro920M only promises to increase the insanity. Measuring a diminutive 3.5 x 1.73 x 3.15-inches (not nearly as small as some), we hear it's got 10 lumens of brightness, a contrast ratio of 100:1, and a resolution of 640 x 480. The little projector... um, projects a 25-inch image from of a distance of up to 1 meter. It's going to be on sale in January 2009 in Japan for $400, and we can only hope it makes its way to North America at some point. Until that happens, we'll just have to make do in our wasteland of medium-sized projectors.

[Via CrunchGear]

Kairen's Projector X Pro920M is small, but not impressively so originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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