Sure, we’d love to be hanging out with this device in person, but we suppose this is second best. ASUS UK has some shots of the upcoming DR-950 e-reader, sporting 9-inches of grayscale SiPix e-paper. It admittedly looks pretty great under these idealized lighting conditions, and the homescreen interface looks simple and oh-so-touchable. Hopefully we get to put the device through its text-to-speech, 3G and ePub paces soon enough.
It’s likely that if you were told to describe what you think would happen if someone asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to autograph a MacBook Pro, it would go something like this:
Steve would fly into a blind fury, grabbing the laptop and smashing it against a far wall with the force of ten men, laughing as the computer shattered and sparked out of existence. He would then leap towards the young man who’d made the request and pin him to the floor, pulling out a Bowie knife while whispering that he would like to “Gut [him] like the pathetic animal he is.” Next Ballmer would dash out of the room only to return with a canister of gasoline, some hairspray, and one of those long lighters, all while shouting that he would “Show the world what [he’s] really made of.” Ballmer would escape from this scene of utter destruction in a helicopter, but not before circling the college campus (or wherever this took place) and dumping toxic waste on hundreds of students.
But, no. He pretty much just signs the laptop. Hit Read more to watch the video. (more…)
It’s been almost three years since Cisco and the DoD announced the IRIS project. Short for Internet Routing in Space, the idea is to route IP traffic between satellites instead of bouncing it on and off ground stations. The whole thing has moved forward steadily since we first caught wind of it, culminating with the launch of the first Cisco Space Router aboard an Atlas V rocket last November. According to The Register, the company has just finished its first in-orbit test of the thing, and — lo’ and behold — it’s a success! After some more testing by the DoD (which will go down between now and April), Cisco plans on running yet more trials. And after that? With any luck, IRIS will extend “constant and pervasive” Internet access to areas not served by traditional ground or 3G networks. And never again will a single person have to live their life without having seen the Bill O’Reilly “F**k It, We’ll Do It Live!” rant.
After months of testing, Mozilla has finally released Firefox 3.6, the newest version of its popular browser.
The new edition of Firefox sports a new array of features, least of which is an increase in speed — 20% faster than Firefox 3.5, according to Mozilla. It uses Gecko 1.9.2 web-rendering, which improves its load times, startup speed, and stability. Javascript execution is faster and smoother as well.
We’ve talked about some of the other new features before, but our favorite has to be Personas, which lets you customize your Firefox with a single click and without a restart. There’s also autocomplete form functionality and full HTML5 support. You can check out all of the new features here.
The Firefox 3.6 beta has been in testing for several months now, but the release candidates only started coming out this month. It looks like the releases went smoothly, so they’re rolling it out for everyone.
You can visit the Firefox homepage to download the newest edition of the browser.
Here is your new Mini Countryman, the latest model from the ever expanding Mini range. As you can see, the Countryman (also sometimes called the Mini Crossover) is a bit bigger than other Minis, and sports four doors – five if you count the hatch. You’ll also note the “All4” badge on the back, indicating that the Countryman is AWD, a first for the brand.
You also might be noticing that the Countryman has different headlights (which we find quite attractive), as well as a new grille treatment. There’s definitely a bit of baby Porsche Cayenne going on up front and in the stance, though it’s clearly still a Mini. We will say, however, we’re surprised at how dissimilar the production version looks from the concept we saw a year or so back. Here, too.
We know that because of 2009 and all the economic misery it entailed, Mini decided to delay the launch of the Countryman, at least here in the U.S. Meaning that you’re going to have to either wait until October, or move to Europe to get your hands on one. Expect more details to follow soon. Odd teaser video after the jump. (more…)
When you’re driving a Ferrari, you’d better keep your eyes open. When you’re buying one, you might want to avert your eyes lest they start watering. Because you know it’s going to be a big bill. Just how big is a matter of details, and new reports from the glossies in the UK give us exactly that. (more…)
Alright, this is some wild, heavy stuff, but the folks at WMExperts have compiled what they believe to be 
true about Windows Mobile 7, including a whole bunch of previously undisclosed info and even a couple of flagship phones. We can’t vouch for the rumors, but there’s a ring of truth to plenty of it, and most of the rest of it we want to be true. First off, Microsoft is approaching the revision with two flavors: Windows Phone Seven Business Edition, and Windows Phone Seven Media Edition. The former is a stripped down OS that will allow OEM overlays like HTC’s Sense UI, and includes lower minimum specs — though a WVGA “minimum” is nothing to get angry about. Meanwhile, it sounds like the Media Edition is the quasi-“Zune Phone” we’ve been dreaming of, with a heavy emphasis on HD media playback and capture, along with social networking activities like Xbox Live, Facebook and Twitter. Other features include cloud-style services on the Business Edition side for live manipulation of stored data, a long with a location-aware platform dubbed “Orion.” (more…)
If you’ve been dreaming of having a computer in your kitchen but don’t like the idea of hanging it from a cabinet or having it clutter up the counter, this guide can help you build a sleek in-wall computer.
Putting a computer in your kitchen and having it look natural and part of the design is a big challenge. Ryan’s wife had been bugging him to put a computer in the kitchen so she could use it to access the internet, manage recipes, generate shopping lists and so on. She also had a pretty tall order when it came to the machine, she wanted it to be discrete, have a touch screen, be internet-enabled, with wires hidden and equipped with a barcode scanner for her to scan products and manage a kitchen database. Not dissuaded by such an ambitious list, Ryan set to work and built an in-wall computer that looks like it was designed and installed by a professional. (more…)
Android’s next big iteration will be known as Froyo. That’s short for “frozen yogurt” and fits right in line with the zany naming scheme that has delivered us Cupcakes, Donuts, and Eclairs so far. If you had your money on Flan being next in that alphabetical order, sorry to disappoint. No additional info could be squeezed out of the Google man at present — such as how much further along Froyo will be from Android 2.1 (technically considered part of Eclair) or when we might expect the upgrade — but we’ve got a name and that should be plenty to get us started on another wonderful journey of soothsaying and speculation.
Is it a stretch of logic, or purely logical? You be the one to judge. New York Magazine is reporting from what seems to be pretty solid word that the New York Times will starting charging online readers for its content. That’s all well and interesting for a media hound, but there’s additional word that the announcement of this in “a matter of weeks” might coincide with the rumored January 27th Apple launch. You know, the tablet thing. We already know (or are pretty sure) that Apple has shopped around a theoretical device to content providers, including almost assuredly the New York Times, so it makes “sense.” Still, we aren’t putting solid money down on a single thing until Steve Jobs pulls this device out of a largish pocket of his and shows it to our face.