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MkII Custom Watches

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 04:51 AM PDT

A while ago I met with the legendary Bill Yao. To some of you that name instantly evokes respect and attention, and for many of you that name is new. I will let Bill give you his total history but he is considered one of the finer watch modifiers in the US. He was one of the guys that would take a watch you already had and do things like change the dial, hands, bezel, lume, etc... Helping people to achieve their "dream look." Then Bill started MKII watches - his own brand that offers ready built watches, as well as ones with a number of customization options in the spirit of what Mr. Yao is most known for.


Marvell announces 1.5GHz tri-core mobile processor with 1080p encoding and decoding

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 04:00 AM PDT

Looks like the future continues to creep toward us, as today Marvell announced the first tri-core low-power CPU for mobile phones and tablets. It also seems that the era of excessive pixels is well and truly upon us, as the chip promises to be able to encode and decode 1080p video... no doubt from a 5mm lens. Marketing excess aside, the new ARM v7 MP compatible system-on-a-chip (SoC) promises better battery life, by having two 1.5GHz cores for processing power, and a third core optimised for ultra-low power consumption that deals with routine tasks, but calls for backup when shit gets real.


Back To School: WhiteyBoard Now Cheaper, Smaller

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 03:33 AM PDT

Back in March we wrote about the WhiteyBoard, a stick-on whiteboard available in multiple sizes. The 12×8 is $10 and the 3.3 x 6 footer is $30. The middle version, at 2 x 3 feet, is sold out.

Our team of chemists formulated an ultra-light, ultra-inexpensive whiteboard sticker that can adhere to any flat surface in just seconds and comes off clean – no installation, no heavy lifting, and no breaking the bank. Our transferrable stickers are ideal for any room in the house, classroom, commercial building, or office in need of a quick functional or decorative fix while simultaneously outfitting users with an accessible surface for doodling notes and ideas. Designed with our youth in mind, WhiteyBoards encourage students to visually explore and record their ideas; a unique green solution to the countless acres of trees destroyed each year for scratch paper. The flexibility of our product allows for an infinite number of uses that can be modified to suit individual preferences. With a pair of household scissors, WhiteyBoarders can customize any of our three sizes to fit a desired space. Stick one next to your front door or home phone to jot down reminders, or use the full sheets to provide more space for artistic creativity in a classroom or child’s playroom. We pride ourselves in our speedy shipping service, competitive pricing, and highly personal customer correspondence, so shoot us an e-mail and you’ll hear from us soon.

The WhiteyBoard allows you to add a whiteboard to any surface, which makes it great for students and the people who love them.

Are You Man Enough To Handle The Maverick Nica Sunrise Bluetooth Headset?

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 03:09 AM PDT


You’re not ready for the Maverick Nica Sunrise Bluetooth headset. This thing is for mavericks only, it’s for the risk-takers, the men who look fear in the face and spit, men whose loins are rock hard and whose teeth are made of iron.

All kidding aside, it looks like a nice product. It seems light and effective and, although Bluetooth headsets like this are generally for douches, as long as you take this out of your ear when in mixed company, go for it. But then it costs $79, which is way expensive. Your call.

Product Page


The CitrusSaw: You Know, For Citrus

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 02:39 AM PDT


Can’t find a knife and a bottle opener? Just whip out the CitrusSaw, a $6 saw and bottle opener concoction that allows you to cut citrus for beers. Why would someone make this? Because humanity is spinning wildly into anarchy and destruction and Shiva, the goddess of change, will soon crush us under her henna-ed feet.

Or maybe someone forgot their knife once and couldn’t find a bottle opener. Anyway, you can buy it here.

via GearPatrol


DigitalCameraInfo Reviews the NX100 M4/3s

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 02:26 AM PDT


To quote from Cracker, what the world needs now is another micro 4/3s camera from a minor camera player like I need a hole in the head it’s nice to see at least someone is serious about the format. I personally love the M4/3s format for video and stills and I think once the big boys bring their models out things will change significantly. Until then, we have Samsung and a few others trying mightily to be first and best.

We were quite excited about the NX100 back a few weeks ago and DCI has a full review, finding it quite nice except for the proprietary NX mount.

But, these issues aside, there is much to like here. The NX100 is a small, relatively compact camera that offers a good range of features and seems to have the power to produce good quality images. And, with the kit including the 20-50mm zoom lens being priced at $599.99 (and available in October), the price is competitive. We'll wait until we can get it into the lab to do our full set of tests, but it looks like it offers some good competition to other similar cameras like the Sony NEX-5 and the Micro Four Thirds crowd.

At $599 it’s on par with a low-end DSLR so you may need to do a little comparison shopping and for my money I wouldn’t invest in a camera bag full of Samsung lenses especially since Samsung isn’t primarily a camera company. Thoughts?

Tecca, Best Buy’s Secret Weapon Against Competition

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 02:06 AM PDT

On the surface, Tecca looks like a pretty cool service. You download an app, browse it for devices you’re looking at in store, and figure out if the price is right. How? By checking out online prices, most notably the prices available from Best Buy, one of the investors in Fuse Capital, creator of Tecca. Even if the app brings up 50 other prices from 50 other stores, the assumption here is that BB has the best price.

Best Buy is already in the cat bird seat when it comes to electronics purchases. Companies that support “lowest price” challenges (we visit P.C. Richards in New York for appliances, for example) are beholden to their low prices and although they’re often draconian when it comes to checking your wallet on the way out the door. But they’re the only game in town and services like Tecca, even if they don’t immediately bring up Best Buy pricing, is an effort to solidify that concept before any upstarts come into the market.

The app will be available on Android and iPhone.

I don’t think the end of big box electronics shops is nigh. In fact, Apple Stores are doing great traffic and Best Buy and places like Target and Wal-Mart, with their limited electronics selection and surly employees, are probably not going to force their CEOs to eat cat food to survive. I’m instead worried about smaller chains in major cities – P.C. Richards, for example – being smashed under the weight of these behemoths. God wants us to be capitalists, but inherent in capitalism is the idea of competition.

Anyway, Tecca should launch soon and I doubt anyone will use it. After all, you just have to type the model number into Google and you’ll get hundreds if not thousands of strongly-held opinions on any product.

Introducing Tecca – Next-Generation Personal Electronics Shopping and Information Service

Tecca combines best of content, commerce and community for today's personal technology needs – First phase now available as free mobile app

SANTA MONICA, CA, September 22, 2010 — Tecca, a newly-launched company with backing from the digital media fund established by Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) and Fuse Capital, today unveiled the Tecca personal electronics shopping and information service. Tecca combines comprehensive product information, pricing, and knowledge, with direct shopping access to the top seller-rated online electronics retailers in a single digital marketplace. The Tecca mobile app is available today via the Apple iTunes App Store and the Google Android Market, with mobile web, PC, and tablet versions set to launch later this fall.

"The speed at which technology evolves affects everyone; we repeatedly hear that constant innovation is overwhelming for consumers, who struggle to keep pace," said Ross Levinsohn, chairman, Tecca, and managing director, Fuse Capital. "Our goal with Tecca is simple: help inspire consumers to make confident decisions about personal technology and electronics, whether they're purchasing new products or making the most of the devices they already own. Tecca helps consumers navigate our increasingly complicated and connected world through a simple, free 'virtual concierge.' From a strategic partnership perspective, Tecca is a testament to the vision we share with Best Buy to provide new, powerful, and socially-connected ways to help improve the way consumers buy, manage and use their own personal technology."

By curating product information, pricing, and knowledge from the top-rated online retailers and publishers and providing original content from its own internal editorial team, Tecca helps consumers understand new technology, products and services; compare features, functions and pricing; purchase through trusted retailers; and learn ways to make the most of the technology they already own. With the mobile app, users can browse or search products, or simply scan the barcode, and Tecca will instantly recognize the product and provide pricing and information.

"Thanks to smart phones, mobile tech, and social commerce, consumers have more opportunities than ever to bridge their physical and digital shopping experiences," said Christine Webster Moore, vice president, new business customer solutions group, Best Buy. "Tecca offers the online electronics marketplace a fresh perspective, one that we think will help empower consumers as their lives become more connected than ever. It's also a great example of our commitment at Best Buy to look ahead and see where technology is going next in consumers' lives."

This first installment of the Tecca service is focused on three key themes:
. Product Discovery – Search, browse, scan and tag thousands of products
. Product Research – Dig in with user reviews, image galleries and product specs
. Product Marketplace – Compare prices and buy from top seller rated merchants

The launch of the mobile app is the first step in a comprehensive product rollout, which will include a broader suite of services; over time, Tecca will offer full solutions for everyday personal technology wants and needs, and the range of information covering the lifecycle of product ownership, including resale and recycling options for old or obsolete technology.

Incubated by Fuse Capital, Tecca is led by a team of industry veterans with experience from a variety of companies, including Apple, Sony, Fox, NBCi, AOL, Netscape, Engadget, Mashable, MobiTV and Flixster/RottenTomatoes. Levinsohn currently serves as chairman of Tecca, and fellow Fuse partner, Mickie Rosen, serves as CEO. Both Levinsohn and Rosen sit on the Tecca board of directors, while continuing to source new investments and managing their existing portfolio at Fuse Capital.


Video: Hitachi’s Autonomous Delivery Robot

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 12:01 AM PDT

It’s not as cute as Muratec’s MKR-003, but Hitachi’s new transportation robot looks pretty sophisticated, too. Much like the MKR-003, Hitachi’s model, dubbed “Intelligent Carry” [JP], can move around and take care of simple chores autonomously. Hitachi has developed a special algorithm called “SLAM” (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) that helps the robot in sizing up its environment quickly and then explore it without human help.

Intelligent Carry is equipped with a high-precision laser measurement sensor called SICK, which was developed by a German company and makes sure the robot detects objects and boundaries in its environment in a reliable way (the robot has another laser range sensor, made by Japan-based Hokuyo, on board as well).

Hitachi says Intelligent Carry, in its current form, is best suited for deliveries of goods in a 30m radius and that the top model reaches a top speed of 7.2km/h. It doesn’t need markers to identify objects or boundaries and can carry loads weighing up to 1,000kg.

The company is currently expecting the robot to generate $47 million in sales in the year 2015, mainly targeting customers like semiconductor makers, food companies and medical firms.

This video shows Intelligent Carry in action:

Via Robonable [JP]

Daily Crunch: Hula Runner Edition

Posted: 23 Sep 2010 12:00 AM PDT

Adobe Plenoptic Lens Tech Lets You Change The Focus In Your Images

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 07:30 PM PDT


I’ve heard of this kind of technology before, but this quick little video demonstrates just how cool it really is. Basically, instead of a normal lens, you use a whole bunch of tiny lenses, and using the correct algorithms you can interpret the many resulting images into a whole — and what’s more, you can change the focal point. It’s pretty trippy to see in action.

The presentation (by Todor Georgiev, the lead researcher) is actually quite dry, but it’s only a couple minutes, so stick with it. I’m not sure I understand how they get the blur effect, though. The microimages appear to all be in focus. I wonder if it’s just added in?

The downside is vastly reduced image fidelity, since so much of the sensor is dedicated to more or less redundant data. He says it’s “on the order of” 25-50 individual cameras, so I’m guessing you’d have to divide the size of the source image by that to get the size of the “final” image.

[via Laptop]

Glasses-Free 3D On Your Android Device? Sure, Why Not

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 07:00 PM PDT


Spotted at a booth at NVIDIA’s GPU Conference is this little demo station from Scaleform and Master Image, who have worked together to make an autostereoscopic 3D menu system. Obviously the effect does not transfer through the monoscopic camera, but you can hear the cameralady “ooh”-ing, so it’s probably pretty cool.

The hardware, as the guy mentions, is Tegra-based, though he didn’t mention whether it was Tegra or Tegra 2 (probably not Tegra 3). And you might have missed it, but at 1:11 he shows that the hardware is also running Android.

Do you actually want 3D on your tablet or phone? Probably not. But what if, like on the 3DS, you could turn it down or all the way off with a dial? Hopefully the technology in use by Master Image lets that happen. It’d be a nice selling point, though 3D hasn’t exactly been selling like crazy in the laptop world.

New Roku XD And XDS Sport New Design, 1080p, USB Playback

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 06:15 PM PDT


Roku, the streaming set-top box we recommended after being slightly underwhelmed by the Apple TV, has gotten some new features and a redesign. The XD and XDS, which we saw peeks of in a recent FCC filing, both support 1080p and have a few new features that make their already-attractive prices even more so.

The XD is the new mid-range model at $80, and gets updated Wireless-N functionality and of course the above-mentioned 1080p playback. The XDS is the new top-of-the-line model, and it on top of 1080p and N, it adds component video out, optical audio out, and a USB port through which you can play locally stored music, photos, and video. That’s pretty sweet for $100.

Both new models also support an instant replay feature for streams, so if you zoned out or missed a line because the dog was barking, you can jump back in 7-second intervals with no buffering. Sweet.

The new $60 Roku HD only does 720p, but it’s also redesigned and smaller than ever. Without 802.11N and the USB thing, it’s not nearly as versatile as the others… but the price is right.

The new players are available now at Roku’s site. Here’s the press release:

Roku Introduces New Line of HD Streaming Players Starting at $59.99

New XD and XDS models feature 1080p HD, Wireless-N, and Instant
Replay

Saratoga, Calif. – September 23, 2010 – Roku, Inc., maker of the best-selling and award-
winning Roku streaming player, introduced today its new product lineup, featuring improved
performance and the lowest prices in the industry. With up to 1080p HD streaming support and
Instant Replay, the new players are shipping immediately at prices starting from just $59.99. All
models feature high-definition playback as well as support for older, standard definition TVs.

There are three new Roku models: the entry-level Roku HD at $59.99; the Roku XD
with Wireless-N and 1080p, and the top-of-the-line Roku XDS, which adds dual-band
wireless technology and extensive connectivity options for home entertainment systems.

All Roku players will continue to deliver the largest collection of streaming entertainment
available for the TV, including over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix (NASDAQ:
NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Video On Demand; live and on-demand baseball from
MLB.TV; music from Pandora, MP3tunes, MOG, and RadioTime; photo and video sharing from
Flickr and Facebook; plus news and entertainment from thousands of sources around the world.

"We're committed to delivering the best entertainment experience at the lowest price in the
industry," said Anthony Wood, founder and CEO of Roku, Inc. "Customers can now buy an HD-
capable Roku player with wireless for 40% less than the price of our original $100 Roku HD
player. Or, think of it this way: for around the price of two Blu-ray Discs, a Roku player brings
you access to limitless instant streaming entertainment choices available today and in the
future. It's perfect for anyone who wants the most choice and control over their entertainment."

The new $59.99 Roku HD streams video in high-definition at up to 720p, and features built-in
wireless and Ethernet for easy broadband connectivity anywhere in the home. The small, sleek
Roku HD is only 1 inch tall and less than 5 inches wide, so it fits anywhere and is tiny enough
to take on a trip. A composite A/V cable is included so that it can connect to virtually any TV,
including standard definition models. An HDMI port enables HD playback on HDTVs.

The new Roku XD ($79.99) and XDS ($99.99) models deliver the next level of streaming
performance, with 1080p HD support (delivered over HDMI) and extended-range Wireless-N. In
addition, the XDS model features dual-band Wireless-N technology, component video output,
optical audio output, and a USB port. Over USB, customers will be able to play stored music,
photos, and up to 1080p video using a USB playback channel, available as a free upgrade to
XDS owners (expected to be available in November 2010).

Both XD and XDS models also feature an industry first in streaming devices for the TV: an
innovative Instant Replay button on the remote, enabling the viewer to skip back in 7-second
increments without having to wait for a rebuffering delay. It's a convenience that until now has
been limited to DVRs and other hard-drive based devices.

First introduced in May 2008, the Roku player provides an easy, affordable, and reliable way for
hundreds of thousands of Netflix customers to watch movies and TV shows instantly on their
TV. Since the launch of the Roku Channel Store last fall, all Roku customers now have access
to over 85 channels from 50 unique content services, with more added all the time.

Pricing and availability
The new Roku HD is available for $59.99, while the XD and XDS models are available
for $79.99 and $99.99 respectively. All three Roku players are available immediately at
www.roku.com, and available for preorders at www.amazon.com.

New Sharp Blu-ray Player And 3D LCDs Are Looking Sharpish

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 05:53 PM PDT


Sharp just announced a slick new pair of Blu-Ray players, and updated its Quattron TVs (you know, the ones with the yellow pixels in ‘em) to support 3D. The new players support Netflix, VUDU and Pandora, among other internet services and rich media-type stuff. Mainly, though, they’re really nice-looking. Pictures courtesy of Gizmodo.

SHARP® INTRODUCES TWO 3D NETWORK BLU-RAY DISC™ PLAYERS AT CEDIA 2010

BD-HP80U and BD-HP90U are definitive companions to 3DTVs
for enjoying Blu-ray™ video and wireless streaming content

Maximum Picture Resolution Available via HD 3D 1080p/24 fps Video Output Wireless LAN Ready
DIVX HD / AVCHD / MP3 / JPEG File Playback
Netflix / VUDU / Pandora Streaming

75mm VESA Mounting Patterns for Easy and Flexible Installation

ATLANTA, GA., September 23, 2010 – Sharp today introduces two 3D network Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) players with full HD 3D 1080p/24 fps video output for home entertainment experiences with outstanding and lifelike image clarity. In addition to Blu-ray 3D content, the BD-HP90U and BD-HP80U provide consumers access to content from a wide variety of sources, including Netflix, VUDU and Pandora from the Internet via Wireless LAN. Both models also play standard-definition DVDs and CDs, as well as DIVX HD, JPEG and MP3 files.
“These Blu-ray Disc players offer top-of-the-line performance and operation features that enable consumers to take full advantage of the 3DTV standard as well as the many diverse entertainment options available to them,” said Bruce Tripido, associate vice president, Entertainment Products Division, Sharp Electronics Corporation.
When paired with a Sharp AQUOS® Quattron 3D LCD TV, the BD-HP90U and BD-HP80U enable consumers to take advantage of additional performance and convenience features including AQUOS PURE Mode for superior “dot-by-dot” delivery of 1080p content and AQUOS LINK™ function for seamless interoperability between TV and Blu-ray Disc™ player via a simple one cable HDMI® connection. In addition, HDMI® up-scaling even improves the picture and sound quality of standard definition DVDs by optimizing playback signals to 1080p.

Both models enable consumers to take advantage of the latest surround sound formats such as Dolby TrueHD, with lossless 7.1 channel audio reproduction that is bit-for-bit the equivalent of the master recordings.
Wireless LAN compatibility also enables BD-Live™ access to real-time content from the Internet such as movie scene extras, new previews, games, chat and more. The Bonus View function delivers picture-in-picture special features, allowing for viewing of favorite movie scenes and added bonus features simultaneously on compatible Blu-ray discs.
The BD-HP90U and BD-HP80U have 75mm VESA mounting patterns for flexible installation. The BD-HP90U can also operate horizontally or vertically (with a supplied stand) and has a RS232 port control so it can be operated by universal remote control systems.

Pricing and Availability
The BD-HP90U and BD-HP80U will be available in September for MSRPs of $499.99 and $429.99, respectively.

New Upscale Cobra Booq Bags Are Sleek And Expensive

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 05:30 PM PDT


Bag maker Booq has a new line of gear aimed at the high end — you know, business guys who want understated black stuff but don’t want to be a Samsonite guy. I really like the look of the shoulder bag above, the Cobra Courier XS ($145), for when I want to go around with just my iPad and a book or two.

The others — from left to right the Cobra Case L ($345), Brief L($255), and Slim L($155) — aren’t quite as cool-looking, though if they’re anything like the bags we’ve reviewed, they should be high-quality and full of pockets for your gadgets.

You’re probably wondering why these things cost so damn much. Well, they’re mainly composed of water-resistant ballistic nylon, the buckles and loopholes are all metal, and they’re trimmed out with Nappa leather. The bases are rubberized, too, which is nice in a muddy city like mine.

I’ll see if we can get one or two of these to evaluate, so you we can do more than say “hey, if you feel spendy, go for it.” In the meantime, the bags are available at Booq.

Hertz Will Offer Electric Vehicles. Most Likely At A Premium.

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 05:30 PM PDT

Want to drive the Volt or Leaf for just a day or week? Don’t feel like paying large for a car that hasn’t run its course? Call up Hertz and rent one. That’s right, Hertz has just announced that it plans to rent out EVs through its car rental and car sharing operations. Zipcar take note.

While we don’t have official word on pricing, we’re assuming that there will be a premium–I mean think of the selling points.

  1. Greener
  2. Cheaper to drive (fuel)
  3. It is already an expensive car
  4. You’ll be cool while you drive one
  5. You can run Prius owners off the road, since they require fuel, you own the road
  6. It just Hertz so good

Press release below

Hertz Commits to Electric Vehicle Mobility Platform
Hertz Global EV Will Catalyze Widespread Use of Electric Vehicles

NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — 09/21/2010 — The Hertz Corporation (NYSE: HTZ) announced today a Commitment to Action at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to bring the next generation of electric vehicles to the general public through its car rental and car sharing operations.

As the world’s largest general-use airport car-rental brand, Hertz is uniquely positioned to introduce multiple groups of consumers — urban drivers, university students, travelers and corporations — to all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Hertz’s leadership in this initiative will catalyze other partners and cities to provide additional infrastructure for mass scaling of electric mobility.

Hertz and its partners are planning to roll out the EV rental program starting this autumn with full-scale deployment in both the U.S. and other countries beginning in 2011. Hertz Global EV will be the first to provide a range of all-electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and charging stations on a rental and car-sharing basis at this scale.

“Our Hertz Global EV program will galvanize support for building out the infrastructure platform necessary to make electric vehicle travel an everyday reality,” said Mark P. Frissora, Hertz’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “With our rental and car sharing expertise, industry relationships and global footprint, we are in an ideal position to lead this new frontier in transportation. This is the game-changer for electric mobility.”

Hertz is building partnerships that will help scale up electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid usage for the general public. Hertz is forming strategic partnerships with manufacturers, charging station providers, municipalities, NGOs, corporations and other stakeholders.

“Done right, electric vehicles can help the environment and represent a leap forward in transportation,” said Fred Krupp, President, Environmental Defense Fund. “We look forward to working with Hertz and its partners to ensure that this leap drives measurable benefits for both consumers and the planet.”

In February, Hertz announced a joint commitment with Nissan to bring the 100 percent electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF to its select US and European car rental and sharing locations. Additionally, Hertz will supply EVs and PHEVs from other manufacturers including GM, Toyota and Mitsubishi. In Europe, Hertz EVs have already been introduced in London and Zurich with additional cities adding EVs this fall.

During the next several months, Hertz Global EV will leverage the company’s rental and car sharing locations as bases for vehicles and charging stations, and tap into its technology — including sophisticated fleet management tools and the consumer-facing NeverLost GPS system — to help form an EV grid.

Looking forward, the company will build on its EV grid and explore new opportunities — including potentially bringing other areas of the business, including Hertz Equipment Rental, into Hertz Global EV.

For more information, visit www.hertz.com or www.connectbyhertz.com.

Review: Case-mate ID Credit Card Case for iPhone 4

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 04:48 PM PDT

When I initially asked Case-mate to send over their Credit-card-holding iPhone 4 case, I was planning on including it as part of a post called “Your wallet is dead”, based on the idea that smartphones can pretty much entirely supplant those bulging hunks of cow skin we gents lug around. I ended up scrapping that post, having come to the conclusion that the wallet isn’t dead just yet (give it another two or three years, tops) — not to mention that declaring things “dead” has become terribly cliché and is, from a writing standing, dead.

Though that post met an early demise, I’m driven to give this Case-mate case a bit of time in the sun with its own review. Why? Because I love it.

Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>

GM To Unveil Voltec Cargo Van Concept Tomorrow

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 04:32 PM PDT

Maybe it’s true after all; GM using its Voltec platform for something other than a compact/midsize sedan, a cargo van named Vivaro. Expected to be unveiled tomorrow at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Fair in Hannover, GM will showcase Vivaro for those interested in low fuel consumption–like a small organic farm that only needs to make small deliveries around the city.

Opel will be the name under which Vivaro will be placed, but if reception goes well then hopefully Chevy will carry the name in the states. The van has 5 cubic meteres of cargo space and can hold payloads up to 750 kg–meaning a great delivery van in the city. Lithium ion battery packs power the van and are mounted in the floor–similar to the Volt. Travel is expected to last up to 60 miles on electricity alone; after the gas-powered motor will extend the range to 250 miles.

"We are convinced that we will get a fantastic reaction from the people who use such vehicles on a daily basis: Electric mobility will allow them to travel in city areas which are now off-limits to petrol and diesel-powered vehicles and the range-extender technology makes it possible to use an electric van for normal routine business," says Chris Lacey, Executive Director, International Operations Opel/Vauxhall Commercial Vehicles.

GM spokesperson Randal Fox said there are no plans to actually build the concept nor bring it to the states, but if the past can teach us anything about GM, learn that “no plans” actually means we’ll wait and see. Does this mean an entire fleet of Voltec vehicles in the future?

My Netgear Router Came Swathed In Dishonesty

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 04:00 PM PDT


So I had to go pick up a new wireless router yesterday, and picked up a plain $35 Netgear one. Checking the back, I noticed this amazing, amazing panel, full of the most misleading garbage I’ve seen in a long time. Netgear should be ashamed of themselves. Let’s just take a look at what’s wrong with this panel.

  • First, there’s no indication where this information is coming from. They’ve literally just made it up, and there’s no indication that this is the case. Sure, advertising has a fair amount of fantasy, but this is next to the configuration and features.
  • “Which is the best product for you?” seems to be their excuse for fraudulently putting check marks next to features. They also feel justified in recommending their most expensive 300Mbps router, even though the average broadband connection is likely to be under 10Mbps and most of these tasks are possible at a tenth of that. They know no one is going to read these check marks as recommendations, but as capabilities and limitations. There’s no indication that they are not providing technical information.
  • Any tech-savvy person (which is to say, probably not your average shopper, at whom this panel is aimed) will be suspicious when “streaming music/radio” does not receive a check mark. The bandwidth required is obviously so microscopic that any router from the last 15 years could handle a dozen streams.
  • “Good,” “better,” and “best” — what do these mean? They seem to be implying that having an enormous bandwidth ceiling on your wireless local network will improve call quality, when VoIP is, like streaming music, incredibly low-bandwidth.
  • Multiplayer gaming, now there’s a laugh. How many of you remember playing games over dial-up and DSL, browsing hundreds of servers in Tribes or Half-Life to find a ping under 100? Not only is multiplayer gaming performance not in the slightest limited by your home wireless connection (unless you’ve got extreme packet loss), but even if it were, wireless routers have handled it perfectly well for a decade, and this one is no different.
  • Now you get to the woollier things, like “simultaneous downloads” and “large file sharing,” which according to this little checklist are not possible on a 150Mbps 802.11n-compatible router. You can judge for yourself the truth of these capabilities.

Your average walk-in to Best Buy is already confused enough by the vast selection of devices for every conceivable purpose. They don’t need trash like this (expected as it may be) confusing them even more. It’s stuff like this that gives people reasons to dislike technology in general, to distance themselves from technical knowledge of their computers and phones.

I’m sure this is a great router. The bits that made up this post went through it just fine. And some of these services may in fact be improved with a better one. But this is an dishonest, disrespectful, and of course very inaccurate representation of the differences between routers. I implore Netgear to abandon this offensive and predatory method of scaring customers into upgrading.

Note: Just so we’re clear, I don’t think Netgear is the only company doing this, nor do I think this is anything new. Nor do I think (or imply) there is no difference between G and N. I just felt like pointing out how absurd this label is.

Apple’s Brand New 27-inch Cinema Display Will Require A Software Update Out Of The Box

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 03:51 PM PDT

Did you happen to dip into the ol’ trust fund and purchase the $999 Apple Cinema Display? Well, when it’s finally delivered, you’re going to be prompted to install a 76MB update right away. Said update allows users to adjust the ambient light sensor, which allows the screen to adjust to different brightness levels and also reduce the amount of energy it consumes. Remember the day when you purchased something and it just worked? Yeah, those days are gone.

Gorgeous Incase Camera Bag Designed By Ari Marcopoulos

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 02:58 PM PDT


Wow, this is a really, really sexy bag. It’s my favorite color, it’s got room for a DSLR, an extra lens, a back-up point-and-shoot, and an iPad. It’s heavy duty, padded, water-repellent, and… it’s really just got everything. Damn, Ari! I look forward to your next project!

[via NotCot]
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