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Acer preps its second-gen Android/Win netbook

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 05:30 AM PDT

Not long after Acer announced last year that it was launching an Android netbook did the company unveile the first-of-its-kind Acer Aspire One D250. Then just yesterday Acer's mobile product manager Martino Mombrini let slip that an updated model is on its way. The D260, like its predecessor, will also be able to dual boot Android and Windows. Not much else is currently known about this netbook, except that the chassis is getting a redesign. But wait, there’s more.

The Acer suit also mentioned plans to out a Google Chrome OS netbook sometime in the second half of the year, which is right along the same lines we’ve been hearing all along. Chances are the company is simply waiting for Google to release the final build of the OS, which will then get stuffed in a random netbook.

iFixit tears apart an Apple tablet

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 05:12 AM PDT

‘Dem crazy boys over at iFixit are at it again. This time they’ve torn apart the only Apple Tablet so far to be owned by consumers and detailed the entire process for the ages. That is of course if someone would actually wanna disassemble a priceless first-gen Apple tablet otherwise known as an Apple Newton. Good times.

April Fools Shenanigans: The 2010 Definitive List

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 04:53 AM PDT

Time to live blog April Fools 2010! Some of us got a jump start on the time-honored tradition (not to name any names here), but we still have about 24 hours of shenanigans left. As the new hire, I have the dubious honor of managing the TechCrunch April Fool's Scorecard.


The SiliFulin is a robot tail for humans (video)

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 03:21 AM PDT

We’ve covered quite a few unusual robots from Japan in the past, but the SiliFulin, a robot tail designed specifically for humans, is definitely among the weirdest models. You can wear the robot around your waist, where it reacts to your movements.

Every human embryo has a (quite large) tail, which is gradually absorbed by the growing body. But the SiliFulin intends to give users back the experience of walking around with a tail, a part of the body human beings lost during evolution.

Designed by Japanese media artist Ryota Kuwakubo, the robot features a number of servo motors that power multiple joints, making them move based on the way you walk.

Here’s a video showing the SiliFulin in action (I’ll leave all form factor-related jokes to you):

Daily Crunch: Beer & Cake Edition

Posted: 01 Apr 2010 12:00 AM PDT

Solid steel mousepad – because you deserve it!

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 10:49 PM PDT


These mousepads are made of 1/8″ rolled steel, and the larger ones weigh four pounds. Take one to a LAN party; if you get owned, just start rage-bludgeoning! Every one is hand-made, and they claim the finishing method they use is perfect for laser-based mice. Sure! Hell, I’ll believe anything they say, because anyone who makes things out of solid steel is A-OK in my book.

They’re made by Greensforged, and there are several varieties. Are you a gravity gun whore in HL2DM? You’ll be wanting the Ravenholm. Are you a giant? Get the Hugepad. At $30-$50, they’re a bit more expensive than the average mousepad, but hey, the Vespula costs $35 and it’s not even close to solid steel!

[via Metafilter/MeFi Projects]

So that’s what my universal remote was missing

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 07:23 PM PDT

Looking for more ways to go green? Powerplus just introduced the Leopard, a solar-powered universal remote that can charge its internal lithium-ion battery using either direct sunlight or artificial light. Basically, if you keep it facing up in a lit room, you will never have to worry about running out of batteries again. The dimensions on this remote are pretty standard (7.3in x 1.9in x 0.7in) and weighs 76g.

As far as aesthetics go, I have to admit there are better options—such as this $50 Logitech Harmony we wrote about recently. But at £9.99 a pop, what do you have to lose? Unfortunately, most people reading this blog probably switch TV sets before they ever need to change the batteries on their remote.


First iPad reviews hit the net

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 06:37 PM PDT


The first iPad reviews, from tech grand-daddies David Pogue and Walt Mossberg among others, are live. Go read. Don’t have the patience? Shame on you, and TL;DR follows.

Pogue says it’s no laptop replacement, but as a giant iPod touch, it’s a huge success. Mossberg says he enjoys doing most tasks on it much more than on his laptop, and considers it 80% a laptop replacement. Pogue hates the keyboard, Mossberg likes it. Both found the battery life to be exceptional — over the quoted 10 hours in both cases, which surprises me hugely. We talked about the iPad’s potential and competitors in today’s podcast, and the consensus was that, as both reviews stress, the flagship apps are the real indicator of the device class’s potential.

PC Magazine and USA Today also weigh in, and are similarly positive. Among PC Mag’s cons is the fact that earbuds are not included. Really now. Xeni has one over at BoingBoing, and she likes it so much she shot pictures of it with a soft focus filter — my mistake, it’s probably just an iPhone camera.

I notice there are few complaints about the lack of Flash support. That’s something that will emerge in time, I think — when a hundred thousand people start cruising the net and find that quite a few of their favorite sites have a few bits missing. Will they complain or merely shrug? We’ll soon find out. The whole Apple/Flash thing is a powderkeg, of course, so I’m just going to let the consumers decide.

But the best review came from Modern Family where the iPad was a major player in the story.

We’ll have our review as soon as possible. With any luck we’ll be able to throw a few of the newest apps at it as well. And my advice is, as always, to get the thing in your hands if you’re not sure. A quick trip to the Apple Store could save you (or make you part with) quite a lot of money.

And Stephen Fry go one, as well, but he’s nice about it.

[image: Reuters]

What the – ABC got their mitts on an iPad already?

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 06:18 PM PDT


It’s not the kind of hands-on that will satisfy hardcore blog-readers, but the last time anyone saw one of these things in real life, Steve Jobs was announcing it.

Towel-folding robot is adorable, impractical

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 06:00 PM PDT


Of all the things I need to fold, towels are the easiest. Probably because before long, they’ll be hanging on towel hooks, so there’s no pressure to fold them in any particularly attractive way. This robot is much more dignified, though, it must be said, very slow. That said, the sped-up video gives it an agreeable birdlike quality, does it not?

[via CNET]

Our alien ancestors have returned in their pliers mothership

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 05:30 PM PDT


View Larger Map

Look up to see their beautiful craft emerging from the heavens. There should be no doubting that aliens helped create the wonders of the world now. Clearly they are masters at simple tools. [via Reddit]

OLPC and Pixel Qi, sitting in a tree, C-R-O-S-S L-I-C-E-N-S-I-N-G

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 05:00 PM PDT


I tried a few ways of making that familiar playground taunt work syllable-wise, but it was not meant to be. Slightly more propitious is this agreement between the ambitious (but troubled) One Laptop Per Child initiative and Pixel Qi, maker of innovative hybrid displays. Pixel Qi’s sunlight-readable display technology (seen most recently in the Notion Ink Adam) was spun off more than two years ago, but they just couldn’t keep themselves apart. How romantic! I guess sometimes you just know you’re destined to be together.

The innovative, power-saving display will now be going into whatever the OLPC project comes up with next, be it a new version of the XO laptop or the rumored tablet.

[via Laptop]

Waterproof external hard drive: yes please

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 04:30 PM PDT


It’s nice that these hard drives should be announced right in the middle of a week of rugged camera reviews. You probably remember LaCie’s Rugged XL series of hard drives — but they’re more rugged and not at all waterproof. These A70s from Silicon-Power are waterproof, pressure-proof, and shockproof. Drop ‘em, take ‘em into the bath, or sit on ‘em all day — go ahead, they love it.

They come in 250, 320, 500, and 640GB varieties and are bus-powered, of course. They have USB 2.0 interfaces only, so don’t expect any crazy FireWire 800 or USB 3.0 speeds. The selling point here is that you can build a house out of them and then drive your car through it without breaking any. Well, it doesn’t say that, but I’d like to think I could.

If you’re wondering what to call that color, the press release has you covered:

The color is somewhere between dark red and tomato red, it is deemed to be the color of 2010 spring / autumn fashion! The mysterious red gives off a misty, varnish and passionate feel.

Excellent.

[via Slashgear]

Full-frame Canoncake is 5Delicious

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 03:46 PM PDT

Video demo: IE9 with NVIDIA Ion hardware acceleration

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 03:10 PM PDT

We’ll soon live in an age when netbooks have both CPUs and GPUs and it will be grand. Unicorns and rainbows will dance off of our screens in harmony — and Internet Explorer might become relevant again. The video after the jump shows what IE9 is capable of when a next-generation NVIDIA Ion GPU is paired with an Intel Atom CPU verses a standard netbook with an Atom all by itself. The differences are obvious and makes a solid case for Internet Explorer. But most of us will probably visit the International Space Station before setting IE as our default browser even if it renders graphics faster. [via liliputing]

Video: New Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer dances its way into our hearts

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 02:30 PM PDT

Hey! You there! Do you want to see a new Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer? No, not an old one—a new one! Well here you go~!

Indispensible to nature photography: the hide

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT


I have no doubt that many of our readers have watched Planet Earth and possibly the newer Life, perhaps the two grandest nature documentaries ever made. If so, you probably caught yourself wondering “How the hell did they get that shot?” — perhaps during the mating dance of the birds of paradise. The “diaries” which accompanied the show revealed a few of the secrets, one of which was the immense amount of time spent by the camera guys in what they call hides: camouflaged shelters from which they can shoot without worrying about being spotted, and in which they may often stay for hours, days, or even weeks at a time.

This English Russia article shows a few interesting ones — for more information I’d check the nearest National Geographic or bird photography website. Hides can be as simple as a few sticks and a tarp with duff on it, or a semi-permanent shelter with stove and cot overlooking a seasonal breeding spot. There are some great pictures at the article, though unfortunately no credit, so you’ll have to investigate using TinEye or Google-fu.

Review: Motorola CLIQ XT

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 01:15 PM PDT

It can be said that Motorola just got its groove back. The Droid is probably one of the best phones out there, followed by the Devour, and they’re constantly releasing a few good models every few weeks, which is better than some manufacturers can say. They’ve hit on a strong formula: build a nice phone, put Android on it, sell a few hundred thousand. Repeat. While the CLIQ XT isn’t Motorola’s best phone, it follows Moto’s not-so-secret recipe without shaming the chef.

Read the rest of this entry at MobileCrunch >>

New FedEx truck: it’s electric!

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 01:00 PM PDT

Good on FedEx, for doing this. The USPS has been talking about going electric for their fleet, and it makes sense. After all, they put massive amounts of miles on their vehicles, and that’s got to make for a pretty serious carbon foot print.

FedEx showed off their new all-electric trucks this week, based on a design used by FedEx in the UK. The new trucks are expected to debut in LA this coming June. FedEx is being conservative in their launch however, starting out with just 4 of the new vehicles. It’s understandable that they would be cautious, since FedEx has stated that the battery system required to propel the new vehicles costs more then a luxury sedan. You have to give them props for looking at the concept though, it’s more then we’ve seen from the US Postal service.

[via Fast Company]

And now, your moment of zen:

Scientist: Don’t bother going green because there’s nothing we can do to save the planet

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 12:30 PM PDT

Well, I hate to be the one to break this news to y’all, but here we are. You know the “green” movement, where companies try to say things like, “Oh, our products are more safe for the environment than our competitors’ products”? I don’t want to say it’s complete nonsense, but the scientist who devised the Gaia theory—our planet is an organism, and we should do our best to ensure its survival—has just said that there’s no chance in hell that we’re going to save the planet. His advice? “Enjoy life while you can.” So, so amazing.

The scientist, Professor James Lovelock, told a UK news program that he now believes whatever damage human beings have done to the planet throughout history, from the very first day that Man stood upright and began to fan out from Africa to today’s UEFA Champions League quarter-final in London between Arsenal and Barcelona, cannot be undone by buying green USB drives. We can sit here and try to come clever little ways to save the planet—water bottle that use 8 percent less plastic than previous bottles, laptops that use less harmful metals, you name it—but the damage has been done.

The best we can do now is hope that Earth is as dynamic as we think it is, and that it can take care of itself in spite of all the damage we’ve done to it.

That does mean, of course, the “green” movement is complete a waste of everybody’s time.

Lovelock also brings up the topic of climate change: just forget it. The planet has a mind of its own, so to speak, so it could be freezing this winter and incredibly hot this summer, and the next year we’ll have a warm winter and cool summer. We have no idea how this planet works, other than the fact that we’re now realizing there’s very little we can to do affect it in any meaningful manner.

In other words, just follow Lovelock’s advice: live your life, enjoy it while you can, and don’t necessarily go out of the way to find green products. Don’t all rush to buy Hummers (yes, I know they shut down), but don’t your Prius will prevent what was put in motion long before you were even born.

It’s hopeless, which is awesome.


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