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The Premium Air Cool Suit Keeps Men (And Women) Cool In The Summer Heat

Posted: 13 Apr 2011 05:03 AM PDT

Summers in Tokyo can be extremely hot and humid, especially for office workers having to wear suits. But major Japanese fashion store chain Aoki has a solution, the so-called Premium Air Cool Suit [JP, PDF]. Aoki cooperated with Shinshu University in the development of the fabric, which filters out infrared and ultraviolet rays.

As a result, your body doesn’t heat up as much as it would with a conventional suit. Aoki claims that wearers have a body temperature that’s up to 10C lower in comparison.

Aoki plans to sell the suit in three variations, priced between $630 and $820, starting next month. A special version for women will cost $345. Similar products, for example a shirt, shoes or underwear, are scheduled to follow soon.

Daily Crunch: Back To Life Edition

Posted: 13 Apr 2011 12:00 AM PDT

Apple Announces Final Cut Pro X At NAB: $299 In June

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 07:22 PM PDT

It’s NAB (the National Association of Broadcasters conference) in Las Vegas, that means lots of new camera and video stuff. It’s more pro gear than consumer stuff, which is probably why Apple took over the Final Cut Pro User Group Supermeet there to unveil the newest version of their professional video editing software. They’re calling it as revolutionary as the original Final Cut released back in ’99. Guess the rumors were right.

Thanks to Photography Bay for liveblogging the event; the whole thing (plus pictures of the event) can be found there.

After a preamble where they described FCP has having over 2 million users and teasing the competition, they launched into the new features of FCPX, which has been “rebuilt from the ground up”:

  • Now 64-bit, with OpenCL support
  • All editing native – no transcoding (for supported formats incl. H264, I assume)
  • New UI (screenshots forthcoming) with “magnetic timeline” and new clip sync method
  • Resolution independent playback system
  • Handles up to 4K
  • Uses Grand Central Dispatch to utilize all your cores
  • Fully color-managed (ColorSync)
  • Media ready for editing immediately – but stabilization, audio and shutter correction, shot detection and preliminary color balancing automatically applied during ingest
  • Timecode-based keywording within clips
  • Collections and “smart” collections of media based on metadata and analysis, presented in iMovie filmstrip style
  • Auto-syncing clips via audio waveform analysis (very nice if it works as advertised)
  • Automated color-matching between clips

Here’s an image of the new UI, via Adam Bedford:

And some better pictures from Photography Bay:


The software demoed was currently in beta, but it’ll be available on June 9th for… $299. That’s really cheap, although it replaces the cheaper Final Cut Express, and Adobe should be coming out with a new version of Premiere Elements soon as well. More info to be added as soon as Apple updates.

Windows 8 Milestone 1 Build Leaks

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 05:37 PM PDT

An early build of Windows 8 (milestone 1, of 3) is passing, as I write this, through the tubes of the internets. There are leaked screenshots showing off some, but not all (this milestone isn’t nearly feature-complete) of the new features coming in this version. Are you the curious type, who ran custom builds of Longhorn for a couple years back in the day? You probably are reading this on Windows 8.

Of course, we don’t condone piracy or the spreading of this information. But we’d be remiss in our duties if we didn’t at least mention that it’s out there.

[via Reddit]

Leaked Intel Roadmap Holds No Big Surprises

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 04:30 PM PDT


A few slides showing some of Intel’s plans for 2011 have leaked, but it’s nothing crazy. Intel doesn’t really do anything crazy, just tick-tocks its yearly advances, and 2011 is no different. Sandy Bridge will get a tweaked successor in the E series, which will allow more CPU cores and more graphics bandwidth. Then the next gen “Ivy Bridge” hits in 2012.

Should you wait? Nah. If you aren’t pressed for time, wait to see AMD’s new Bulldozer platform in the next couple months; if it doesn’t fit your fancy, it’ll at least help push prices down.

[via Electronista]

Review: Monster PowerBeats Sport Headphones By Dr. Dre

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 04:01 PM PDT

That red cord. You’ve seen it. Maybe it was at the gym; maybe it was on the bus — but you’ve seen it.

With their Beats By Dr. Dre line, Monster has done what they do best: take a commonplace item, and turn it into a status symbol. How? By making their offering retail-level luxury, so to speak. They price things juuuust cheap enough that brick-and-mortar stores will still put it on their shelves, but expensive enough (that is, more expensive than most of their Best Buy competition) that many shoppers would inherently assume that they’re the best available.

But you, dear friend, know better. You know that more money doesn’t necessarily mean better performance — and you have the Internet! We took one of Monster’s latest addition to the Beats By Dr. Dre line, the PowerBeats Sport Headphones (complete with in-line iPhone/iPod controls!), for a spin. How’d they do? Find out after the jump.

MeeGo UI Upgrade Is An Improvement, But Is It Good Enough?

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 03:16 PM PDT


Right now the only serious player in tablets is Apple, followed at a great distance by Google and then by Microsoft. Intel’s MeeGo, which I expected to fade away after a rather poor showing at Mobile World Congress, has been given a puzzling upgrade, which NetbookNews got on video at a recent Intel event in Beijing. I say puzzling because it doesn’t look bad at all. Keep in mind this isn’t necessarily a “vanilla” MeeGo, but rather a build created by manufacturer Tencent, but it still impresses.

The main “home screen” is organized into a sort of ribbon; the effect is a bit much for me, but this is still early software. They’ve got a new customized version of Opera Mobile 11, and the widget-type apps look pretty nice. It appears responsive, and it’s running on the new Oak Trail mobile platform, with a 1.5GHz Z560 Atom and a gig of RAM.

The hardware it’s being shown on looks pretty chunky, but of course this isn’t a consumer device, it’s just a work-in-progress prototype. If I’m honest, by the time this thing gets out to consumers there will likely be iOS 5 and Android 3.1 (or even 3.5) to deal with, but the improvement to MeeGo in such a short time is good to see. Apparently Chinese vendors aren’t loving the Honeycomb, so maybe Intel will get some traction over there in the Far East.

Intel Hints At New Tablet Chip Named “Cloverview”

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 02:42 PM PDT

Cloverview is going to be the name of Intel’s next-generation Atom processors for tablets according to a hint dropped during a speech today at the Intel Developer Forum.

The chip represents Intel’s direction of lowering energy consumption, especially for mobile processors, by using a 32-nanometer manufacturing process. Cloverview will join two other new 32-nanometer Atom chips still in the works; Cedar Trail for netbooks, Medfield for low-end smartphones and tablets.

Intel has to get serious about mobile processors; ARM processors are considered more efficient, which is why they are in more tablets. As far as we can tell they won’t be going away either.

Xoom’s MicroSD Card Slot Enabled Through Custom Kernel

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 01:45 PM PDT


It’s ridiculous that the Xoom’s microSD card slot doesn’t work out of the box. I don’t understand it at all. No matter, the good ol’ XDA boys figured took it upon themselves to unlock the port. It requires a custom kernel, which in of itself requires the Xoom to be jailbroken, but the whole process is like jailbreaking any other Android device. (read: just follow the instructions) Hopefully an official update enables the device natively but Moto has so far been mum on the whole subject — which is also ridiculous. [XDA via Phandroid]

Eye-Fi “Direct Mode” Upgrade Sends Photos Directly To Your iOS or Android Device

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 01:00 PM PDT


This is a pretty solid feature, I have to say, and maybe the one that makes me an Eye-Fi convert. We’ve seen some iOS camera tethering options, and of course the Eye-Fi is already pretty useful for when you have your laptop around, but this super easy send-to-device feature could be really compelling to the average non-tech-savvy user. We heard about it back at CES, but it’s actually rolling out this week.

Basically you just up the card ahead of time for Direct Mode, and it learns to use an ad-hoc wi-fi network to send your pictures directly to your iOS or Android device. It’s not quite as immediate as tethering, but it’s a lot easier, and if I’m not mistaken, it basically can use your other device as a secondary memory card.

That’d be nice for some easy workflows: shoot on your point and shoot, they appear on your iPad where you peruse and delete a few, and then when you plug in and sync, they go over to iPhoto. And I’m sure you could figure out a similar process on your Android phone or tablet. The photos can be sent to your gallery, then you can use your own apps or the app provided by Eye-Fi.

The new 8GB X2 Mobile cards with Direct Mode enabled cost $80, or you can download an update later this week if you already have an X2 card.

Media Hardware Gets Thunderbolt At NAB

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 12:40 PM PDT


Although Thunderbolt isn’t found on PCs yet, it’s already made its Apple debut, and that’s enough for some. And now accessory makers are getting into the game as well, following up on the initial gear from LaCie and Pegasus.

Three companies (so far) have announced new devices supporting or shortly to support Intel’s new standard. Blackmagic Design put out the UltraStudio HD breakout box, AJA showed off a preview of an editing accessory device it called the Phaser, and Matrox announced its MXO2 line of I/O boxes will ship with Thunderbolt in July.

As expected, these first devices are aimed at professionals for whom that increased bandwidth really means a productivity boost. But it’s far from clear whether Thunderbolt will be adopted at large by consumers, so chances are the big guys like Logitech and Western Digital are prototyping internally and waiting for the right moment to strike (or not strike).

[via Ars Technica]

NASA Names The Space Shuttles’ Final Resting Places

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 12:17 PM PDT

30 years ago today the Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off on the first shuttle mission. Two missions ended in disaster, but a total of five different shuttles spent a collective 1289 days in space over 132 missions. The program is set for retirement after Atlantis’ final voyage later this month. The three remaining shuttles, along with the Enterprise prototype, are going to need cozy homes.

Of course every museum around the US wants one, but there are only four shuttles to go around with one already reserved for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. The shuttles new homes are to cover the $28.8 million cost of prepping and transporting the massive shuttles, but those costs should be easily recovered with ticket sales. NASA has been talking with suitors for the last few months and used the historic anniversary to announce the winners.

Space Shuttle Discovery

Somber fact about the Discovery: After her final space mission this past March, she became the only original Shuttle to survive her final launch and landing unlike the Challenger and Columbia. She’s going to end up at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum to replace the Enterprise prototype.

Space Shuttle Atlantis

The Atlantis first took off from Kennedy Space Center in April of 1985 and flew for the last time on May 14, 2010. She logged 120 million miles over 32 missions. Her final destination will be in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center after NASA removes all the dangerous fluids and equipment.

Space Shuttle Endeavour

Save a disaster, the youngest Space Shuttle Endeavour is on her way to the California Science Center in Los Angeles after flying her Space Shuttle mission later this month.

Enterprise prototype

The Enterprise is to be moved from its current home at the Smithsonian to the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum located on Manhattan’s West Side. While it never actually reached outer space, the Enterprise conducted upper atmosphere test flights and actually flew over New York City in 1983. Likewise, NYC itself never had a major historical claim to the Shuttle like several other vying locations, but the 1943 warship museum does pull in close to a million visitors a year and helped recovery early NASA launch vehicles.

Update: Atlantis is the final shuttle mission and the post was updated as such. Thanks for pointing out the error.

Survey: Dutch Artists Say P2P Doesn’t Hurt Them Financially

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 11:30 AM PDT

Flickr’d

You may have heard that the Dutch Government now plans to outlaw music and movie (and whatever else) downloading. That seems pretty prosaic: since when was it legal to infringe on someone’s copyright? Isn’t that the whole point of copyright? No matter, for in the lead up to the Dutch announcement’s announcement a survey was taken. "What about the survey?" you may ask. Well, said survey reveals that a good number of artists believe that they’re not hurt financially by piracy, and that it’s about time to re-think the artist-fan relationship with respect to DRM.

The survey asked 4,000 artists (musicians, authors, photographers, etc.) for their views on all sorts of piracy-related subjects.

For example, only 12 percent of respondents said they believed file-sharing hurts them financially. Artists with more schooling’ under their belt tend to be among those who don’t believe file-sharing hurts them financially. So much for the claims by certain organizations that artists are being put in the poor house because of BitTorrent.

What else? Oh, that file-sharing helps spread the word about their work. So says just north of 50 percent of respondents, though this number may change as more and more streaming options break into the mainstream. A sort of, "Online music services help spread the word about my work."

All of this being said, the Dutch artists aren’t a bunch of hippies who think everything should be free forever. Nope, with a majority saying that the penalties from illegal file-sharing should be more serious that the current penalties on the books.

The Witcher 2 Devs: DRM Does Nothing But Drive People To Piracy

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 11:00 AM PDT

The next big PC game will be The Witcher 2, which should be released on May 12 (and if you’re cool like me you will have already pre-ordered). Unlike a certain other big RPG this year, it actually looks like it was developed within the past few years. If you order it from Good Old Games (the company behind GoG, CD Projekt, also developed the game) it will be completely DRM-free. That is to say there will be no DRM whatsoever. No having to worry about limited installations, no having to worry about your Wi-Fi connection dropping and thus cutting you off from the all-powerful authentication servers, none of that nonsense. What a concept—treating your customers like customers and not potential evildoers!

The game’s devs talked to Bit-tech, and argued what so many people have said over and over again, that DRM merely pushes people to piracy. Does this scenario sound familiar?

I know people that buy an original copy of the game just so they don’t feel guilty, and then they will play a pirated version which is stripped of all DRM. That's not how it should be. Let's treat legitimate customers with respect and they will give that back.

That was the game’s PR and marketing manager, Lukasz Kukawski, making all kinds of sense. The lack of DRM (at least from the GoG version; the retail version will include DRM because of contractual obligations) won’t create a rush to pirate the game. How many times have we seen games wrapped in 85 layers of DRM leaked online weeks before their retail release? Many times, thank you.

WD TV Live Now With Netflix 3.0 And CinemaNow

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 10:30 AM PDT

Today, Wester Digital announced an update to their WD TV Live devices to include Netflix 3.0 software along with the addition of CinemaNow. CinemaNow, operated by Best Buy, can access more than 10,000 movies and TV shows that users can either rent or purchase. The Netflix 3.0 update allows users to now search on the TV without having to set up queues on a PC. Also, the Netflix update includes support for movies with Dolby Digital Plus.

Report: Radeon 7000 Series Already Nearing Mass Production

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 10:00 AM PDT

Tick tock, tick tock. What are we waiting for? No, not for Fernando Torres to finally score for Chelsea (although we are, in fact, waiting for that to happen), but for AMD to release its latest GPU, the Radeon HD 7000. Digi Times, which is about as solid as source as you can get, says mass production will begin in May. That should put retail availability at July 2011 at the earliest.

The bad news is that there’s very little info out there about what to expect from the 7000 series, code named Southern Islands. One report says that they’ll derive from the same 28nm core as the 6950 and 6970.

As with all Radeon cards, the hardware is really quite nifty (and, at least with the current generation), but there’s always something wrong with the drivers. 99 percent GPU use on the desktop? What is that about?

Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Watch Hands-On

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 09:36 AM PDT

In at least one award last year the Zenith Striking 10th was voted best watch of 2010. The cool character was on many people’s minds as it was a highlight of a reinvented brand. The irony of course was that as Zenith reinvented themselves and asked everyone to forget its recent past, they also asked people to recall Zenith’s slightly more distant past as the brand was to “rediscover its roots.” I really liked the El Primero Striking 10th Chronograph watch – but never really understood the name. This year the Striking 1oth is back, and now wears a Stratos suit of armor.

Read the rest here…

A 23-inch Tablet Coming From Lenovo This Year?

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 09:20 AM PDT

Lenovo be crazy. Or smart. Either way it seems the firm is hoping to out a 23-inch tablet by the end of 2011. This comes right from William Cai, a Lenovo senior specialist in marketing, during a talk at this year’s Gadget Show Live. I’m going with smart rather than dumb.

The man goes on to talk about the obvious challenges with the project with battery life being the biggest issue. Apparently the device, if it really exists, would be based off of Lenovo’s all-in-one series, which sort of lends to the idea that this will be a convertible or dockable device rather than a dedicated tablet. A 23-inch tablet would be a tough sell on its own, but there might be a market for an all-in-one computer where you can move the screen to the kitchen or living room for an hour. Actually, it’s rather surprising that HP who constantly reinvents its all-in-one touchsmart computers haven’t already done this.

Cai via TechRadar.

It’s obviously not for full mobility use, but it could be moved from room to room in the house and used with a full keyboard, or as a television.Or you could lay it on a table top and use it for family games.

We’re hoping that we can launch it later this year.

I’m sold. I doubt Lenovo would actually out the product this year with touchscreen prices still fetching high prices, but this certainly feels like the next step in the computing evolution timeline. Plus, with that much screen real estate, my issues with controlling Windows 7 with a touchscreen is moot.

Activision: Guitar Hero Not Dead, Merely Placed On Hiatus

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 08:45 AM PDT

Activision now says that Guitar Hero hasn’t been outright cancelled, but merely placed on hiatus. The publisher had said in February that it was going to disband the Guitar Hero business unit, and that the 2011 edition of the game had been cancelled. What gives?

Activision tells GamesIndustry.biz that rather than canceling the series outright, it’s simply changing the way the franchise works. It will no longer be a yearly release à la Madden, but that Activision will still support the brand. Maybe a release every two years? Maybe a different way to support the franchise, with special DLC and the like?

Somewhat related, Ubisoft recently said that the world needed new game consoles in order to facilitate innovation and whatnot, to tap into the newly developed technologies and techniques that have popped up since the Xbox 360 was designed.

I suppose Ubisoft is unfamiliar with something called a PC? Seems to me there has been plenty of technological development there, and I don’t see Ubisoft treating the PC with anything but contempt.

AutoTech Video: A Week In A Prototype Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid

Posted: 12 Apr 2011 08:00 AM PDT

The Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf are enjoying lots of free publicity right now. Each of their unique approaches to cleaner mobility has drawn a lot of hype. What about the car that started it all? What's the next step for the Toyota Prius?

Though battery technology does not yet rival the energy density of gasoline, that hasn’t stopped the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf from trying. Toyota, with their more than 14 years of hybrid experience, must have a better solution, right?

Toyota has been investing significantly in their Prius “plug-in hybrid” Prototypes: PHEVs offering a combination of an internal combustion engine and a battery electric vehicle. Has their worked paid off? We got one week with the Prius PHEV to find out if it’s energy solution meets our needs.

The car appears to be a normal Prius. Aside from some lower body graphics and a cutout out for the plug near the driver-side fender most of the changes involve the electric powertrain. The older Prius' nickel-metal hydride battery gets replaced with a bigger, more powerful lithium-ion pack. Ancillary equipment such as high-voltage lines, battery charger and thermal management were also added, but aren’t immediately visible.

The new battery can achieve a full charge in about three hours from a 110-volt outlet or in about an hour and a half with a 220-volt. I have a 220-volt outlet in my garage, so charging was never an issue. 220-volt outlets aren’t uncommon in US homes — for instance most dryers and electric stoves have them, though they may not be easily accessible for vehicle plug-in.

Because the Prius PHEV is in the experimental stage, Toyota will be using the data from the fleet of 150 prototypes to determine if the battery size is adequate for most daily commutes. I also wanted to do my own experiment to see whether or not the Prius PHEV would fit my (mostly minimal) driving habits. For this review, I kept a driving journal including miles driven, charge times and fuel economy in both electric-only and hybrid-electric modes.

Driver's Log

I logged many entries the week I spent with the Prius, but for the sake of brevity I'm listing the three most relevant scenarios.

Trip 1

My first commute involved driving to two stores on different sides of town for general errands. The first leg to get a new lens for my camera was only 3.7 miles — this, of course, was done on all electricity. From a full charge the battery meter showed 13.6 miles of range, at the destination it showed 9.6 miles left. Not bad.

Afterwards, it was on to Trader Joe’s for some groceries, exactly 5.2 miles away. For this leg the battery meter underestimated range by 1.4 miles. Still, not bad. 3 miles of all-battery range were left when it was time to go back home. I live less than 3 miles from the Trader Joe’s, so I decided to push the car a bit harder on the way back. Once during the trip the engine briefly kicked on to assist an apparent hard acceleration. I made the 1.3-mile trip back with 0.9 miles of battery left. 10.2 miles traveled with 0.9 left means the full charge would last 11.1 miles under these particular driving conditions. I was impressed because it was 22 degrees F that day and electric cars have lower range in the cold. That was all the driving I had for the day, but if I needed to go anywhere else it would only be a 1.5-hour wait until the battery could be fully charged.

Trip 2

This next drive involved about 100 miles of expressway driving at 70 mph. The fully charged battery estimate was 11.8 miles. This estimate always differed depending on many variables, but I noticed it was less when cold out. The 11.8-mile estimate ended up being 15.3 miles before the standard hybrid mode the Prius is famous for kicked in. I ended up getting 15.3 miles in EV mode because only two of those miles were in the city, the rest were on the expressway driving 70 mph.

Interestingly enough, the Prius’ battery doesn’t have enough current to maintain speeds over 65 mph without assistance from the engine. Much of those expressway miles were assisted by the engine, hence the increased battery life of 15.3 miles. After the hybrid mode took over the energy sources shifted from either the engine or battery, or a combination of both. This all depended on a variety of constraints involving battery state and road conditions.

Nonetheless, the Prius PHEV was able to get me to my destination and back (100 miles) with a fully charged battery and less than 2 gallons of gas. If I were in a Nissan Leaf the trip wouldn't have been possible — though, to be fair, the Leaf isn’t officially rated for a trip that long, except in marketing materials.

Trip 3

Trip 3 wasn’t much different from Trip 2, except that the route had many stop signs along a 2-lane road. This 28.7-mile trip to get raw milk from the local dairy farm started with 14.3 miles worth of gasoline-free driving. Eco mode, which keeps pedal pressure minimized during acceleration, is hugely responsible for the better range. With it activated the car was less motivated to accelerate, saving the battery from my lead foot.

After the charge ran out the Prius resorted back, once again, to the familiar hybrid mode. However, because the Prius PHEV’s electrical system runs at a higher voltage the average fuel economy was 62 mpg — much better than the normal Prius. Drive routes with frequent stops actually decrease gasoline consumption; the car has a chance to capture kinetic energy from regenerative braking. A time out for the engine, if you will.

Is the Prius PHEV the next step?

From my experience behind the wheel of the Prius PHEV, I’d say that the advantages offered make it a very compelling alternative to battery-only electrics. Even though two of the three trips involved driving further than 12 miles, keep in mind I spent a lot of time driving the car that week for this review. If it were a normal week, my daily mileage would have been less than 20 miles.

Not only are plug-in hybrids the next step because of their convenience, but the more robust lithium-ion battery vastly improves fuel economy over the regular Prius when operating in the hybrid-only mode.

Currently the estimated price is $27,000, but that’s not an accurate number for a number of reasons. The first few vehicles are prototypes; the battery size hasn’t been finalized. Toyota engineers are collecting data from all the prototypes running around the world in an attempt determine what range would be appropriate for most drivers. It’s not 12 miles, but that’s not far off either. If the production Prius PHEV could hit 20-30 miles, then Chevy and Nissan will again have to worry about the Prius.

Crunching The Numbers Tech Report
Estimated Price: $27,000 Engine: 1.8-liter I4
0-60 mph: 11 sec Battery Output: Unknown
Observed fuel economy in EV mode: 100 MPGe Motor: 80-hp permanent-magnet
Observed fuel economy: 62 MPG (average) Transmission Type: Continuously Variable


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