Judge rules that state’s landmark low-carbon fuel rules discriminate against out-of-state ethanol providers because they consider impact of transporting fuel to California.
CNET News
Monthly Archives: December 2011
California EPA to appeal ruling that blocks low-carbon rules
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Verizon Investigates Third Data Outage in Under a Month
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Archaeologists Uncover Lovers’ Pipe Dreams in Jerusalem Dig
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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2011 has been a tremendous year for tech — Amazon launched a $ 200 Android tablet, AT&T and Verizon continued their LTE expansion, Apple killed off the Mac mini’s SuperDrive and Samsung introduced a well-received killer 5.3-inch smartphone. But tiny tech startups made their mark as well, proving that you don’t need an enormous R&D budget to spur innovation. Still, development isn’t free, and unless your social circle includes eager investors, seed money has been traditionally hard to come by.
For many of this year’s indie devs, crowdfunding sites have been the answer, with Kickstarter leading the pack. We’ve seen an enormous variety of projects — including a deluge of duds and plenty more semi-redundant iPhone accessories — but a few treasures soared above the swill to be featured in our Insert Coin series, with many of those meeting their funding goals and even making their way into the hands of consumers. Now, as 2011 draws to a close, we’ve gone through this past year’s projects to single out our top ten, and they’re waiting for your consideration just past the break.
Continue reading Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011
Insert Coin: A look back at ten top projects from 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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South Pole Records Warmest Temperature on Record
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Best Software For Putting Lectures Online?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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An anonymous reader writes “I’m trying to help a school put their classes online in the way most minimally invasive to the teachers. A few environmental considerations: They don’t always have live internet in the classroom, or I’d just run to Skype. I’m hoping to make it as much one-touch start/stop as possible to start recording, stop recording, and upload to a server. I’d like to believe others here have already done something similar, so if a package or process worked for you, that would be great to hear. Not sure what if it’s all PowerPoint lectures, or if they actually use a whiteboard, and if so what the best camera would be to use (on a school budget!).”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Ford System Will Warn, Correct Lane-Drifting Drivers
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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PolygamousRanchKid writes “Ford says its new Fusion, which will debut at the North American International Auto Show in a couple weeks, will be the first mainstream midsize sedan in North America to offer a lane departure system. Lane departure systems are aimed at warning drivers, especially drowsy ones, if their vehicles wander out of their lane. A digital camera mounted on the windshield ahead of the rear-view mirror keeps a watch. The system not only causes the steering wheel to vibrate if it senses an unintentional lane departure, it will also steer the car back into the right lane. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 100,000 police-reported crashes occur every year as a result of drowsy drivers, leading to 1,500 deaths, 71,000 injuries and $ 12.5 billion in monetary losses.” I’d just like to know how hard the AI will fight if it misinterprets a driver’s intentional lane change.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Will someone besides Amazon release the next Kindle tablet?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Other device makers might soon be knocking at Amazon’s door and offering to lend a hand with future tablets.
CNET News
Samsung Galaxy S III tipped to surface at MWC in February
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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A few days back some photos of what was thought to be the Samsung Galaxy S III surfaced. It didn’t take long for Samsung to come back and say that the photos that leaked and were thought to the S III were in fact nothing more than concept devices that are not indicative of what [...]
SlashGear
Chicago restaurants stop taking cell phone orders
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Because drivers are being robbed when delivering to customers who ordered by cell phone, some restaurants stop responding to those who order by cell.
CNET News
Monsters and UFOs to Watch For in 2012
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Google Health’s New Year’s Resolution is to cease to exist, countdown begins to save your data
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Back in June, Google announced that it would be ‘retiring’ Health effective January 1, 2012. Now, everything appears to be on-track for the shutdown, with Google sending out a final reminder to Health customers earlier today. You have until the stroke of midnight to access the service or port your data to a competitor — after which point you’ll no longer be able to view information saved to your account, though it’ll remain available to download in .zip format for another year. Want to know more? Hit up the source link for the Google Health FAQ.
Google Health’s New Year’s Resolution is to cease to exist, countdown begins to save your data originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Facebook hands out White Hat debit cards to hackers
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Better than a Platinum card–Bug Bounty debit card gives security researchers some clout.
CNET News
The Biggest Twitter Stories of 2011
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Vision and Sound From the Ideally Bare Numeric Impression giZmo
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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jones_supa writes “Ville ‘viznut’ Heikkilä presents us with an interesting project. ‘As demonstrated by the video, IBNIZ (Ideally Bare Numeric Impression giZmo) is a virtual machine and a programming language that generates video and audio from very short strings of code. Technically, it is a two-stack machine somewhat similar to Forth, but with the major exception that the stack is cyclical and also used at an output buffer.’ The main goal of IBNIZ is to provide a new platform for the demoscene. Something that would have the potential to displace MS-DOS as the primary platform for sub-256-byte productions.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple App Store served 5.65M free daily downloads in November
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The App Store has hit a milestone that is very impressive. According to the latest stats from a firm called Fiksu, the Apple App Store served up 5.65 million free app downloads per day in November. That was up from 4.91 million in October. With a typical app coming in at 4MB and 5.65 million [...]
SlashGear
Skype gifts NYC with NYE WiFi, so you can miss the ball drop while Skyping the ball drop
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Those kind folk at Skype already served up plenty of glorious WiFi waves across US airports this Christmas, and now it’s New York City’s turn. From noon on the 31st until January 1st, if you spy a “Skype WiFi” network, those tasty bytes are yours for the taking. The VoIP don has teamed up with WiFi provider Towerstream for the give-away, and recommends you load-up on the latest version of its famous software to make sure you don’t miss out. If you pack an iDevice, then it’s the Skype WiFi app you’ll be wanting updated in the lead up to midnight. Just make sure you don’t miss that kiss, just for a festive freebie.
Skype gifts NYC with NYE WiFi, so you can miss the ball drop while Skyping the ball drop originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple designer Ive becomes Sir Jony
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Jonathan Ive, the industrial designer behind iconic products like the MacBook, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, is named a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth.
CNET News
Bubbly Bits: The Science of Champagne
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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AT&T-branded Nokia Ace possibly leaked in holiday card
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The grain of salt we’re taking this with is roughly boulder-sized but, we have an image of what may very well be the AT&T Nokia Ace — the rumored LTE-sporting Windows Phone from the Finnish phone maker. It seems that someone sent out a holiday greeting featuring a phone that looks a heck of a lot like the Lumia 800, except it prominently features a Ma-Bell logo, a 4G icon and what appears to be a front facing camera. Of course, what has also been referred to as the Lumia 900 could just as easily be a chop job — and not a particularly difficult one to pull off at that. Hit up the source link for a couple of more pics of what could be Nokia’s first high-end Mango (or, perhaps Tango) offering here in the US.
AT&T-branded Nokia Ace possibly leaked in holiday card originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Dropbox Automator triggers monotonous tasks with uploading of a file
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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There are plenty of tools and apps out there that automate the essential computing tasks that face us every day. Some are time consuming others are simply monotonous — but they must be done. Dropbox Automator combines time-saving task mastery with perhaps our favorite cloud storage solution. The service watches a designated folder for uploads, when a new file is added an action is triggered — everything from converting documents, to resizing an image or tweeting a link. And that’s just scratching the surface. There are already plenty of automation scripts in the fledgling service’s repertoire and devs can add there own by creating a SOAP webservice. Hit up the source link to get started now.
Dropbox Automator triggers monotonous tasks with uploading of a file originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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No new iPads at MacWorld in January?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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I always find the battle between the vague sources that are cited in reports around the web about Apple gear that is coming and other tech products rather funny. At any given time you can find sources claiming that a new product is coming and sources claiming that the product isn’t coming, which is why [...]
SlashGear
A new way to buy high-end speakers
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Brick and mortar dealers are fading away, but factory-direct outlets lack the expertise to fully serve their customers. Now there’s a third option.
CNET News
Apple has a good Christmas, then gets a lump of coal from Italy
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The week’s big news and rumors in Apple land, including record-setting activations on Christmas and a $ 1.2M fine in Italy.
CNET News
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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This week may not have been incredibly packed with news in the mobile world, but it was still easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here’s some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of December 26, 2011:
Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011
Mobile Miscellany: week of December 26, 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This week in Crave: The superhero edition
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on December 31, 2011
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This week, we flew high in our new cape, took “Star Wars” style to the slopes, and rode a fast train to 2012.
CNET News
Video – Gadget Roundup
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Some of the coolest gadgets Technology Review has come across in the past year.
Technology Review RSS Feeds
Aol Employees Make Zombie Video About Talent Exodus
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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In case you haven’t noticed ;), it’s an especially slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow time for the tech industry. So slow that some Aol employees — the only one I recognize is Sol Lipman — made a video about the recent Aol talent exodus, using ZOMBIES as a metaphor for all the people who’ve decided to leave Aol.
Andy Rubin didn’t delete his October 2010 “definition of open” tweet
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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If you are an Android fan, you undoubtedly look forward to the occasional tweet from Andy Rubin. One of the best tweets to come from Rubin was posted back in October of 2010 when Rubin tweeted the definition of open in response to something that Steve Jobs had said. Apparently, that tweet later disappeared. There [...]
SlashGear
Video – Gadget Roundup: Part 2
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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A retro arcade system, a screen for business road warriors, and a brain wave reader are some of the best gadgets the editors of Technology Review have come across in the past year.
Technology Review RSS Feeds
Arise SIR Jonathan Ive
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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mariocki writes “Steve Jobs’ go-to design man Jonathan Ive, the creator of modern computer design classics such as the iMac, MacBook Pro and iPod/iPhone/iPad, has been awarded a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours list, taking him from plain old ‘Mr’ straight to ‘Sir’ in one fell swoop. This now puts him in the same league as Paul McCartney, Michael Caine, Bob Geldof and Bill Gates. Ive said ‘I discovered at an early age that all I’ve ever wanted to do is design’ and even for Apple haters his designs have done more for personal computer design than the mainstream PC manufacturers could imagine, taking the PC from the geek den into the living room of even the most painfully trendy fashionista.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Keeping Up With The Normals
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The holidays for most people who read this site involve answering a cornucopia of tech support questions for their relatives. Honestly, I’ve watched friends field the most frustrating 45 minute IT department-level questions during holiday time with the family, which inevitably devolves into more of those types of conversations in between “Pass the gravy.”
These conversations will only increase in frequency as the average consumer wakes up to smartphones and the app economy. According to Flurry, nearly a quarter of a billion app downloads this year occurred on December 24th and again this Christmas Day, more than 2x any other day thus far, ever.
TechCrunch
Seas0nPass untethered jailbreak for Apple TVs on 4.4.4 detailed, iOS apps coming soon? (Update: video!)
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Now that pod2g has done the heavy lifting and released an untethered jailbreak for iOS5, the Seas0NPass tool has been updated for your untethered jailbreaking pleasure on Apple TVs running even the latest 4.4.4 update. Redmond Pie has a full walkthrough and how-to that should help you get things going, so that you no longer have to choose between extending your device’s capabilities beyond Apple’s restrictions (still no Plex support on 4.4.4 though Update: Plex Beta 4 has been released which is compatible with 4.4.4., thanks Christo & Tulio) and features like AirPlay mirroring. Even more interestingly however, a few hackers may be close to unlocking iOS apps for use on the Apple TV. There’s nothing released yet but we’ll be following @themudkip and @westbaer on Twitter for further updates as they’re available. In the meantime, check out a couple shots of iOS apps running on the Apple TV after the break, courtesy of Steven Troughton-Smith.
Update: Still images not enough to get you going? Check after the break or hit the YouTube link for a quick video demo of iOS apps running on Apple’s TV box. Our friend STS hopes this may push the folks in Cupertino to open their doors to apps officially similar to the way things happened back in ’07 on the iPhone — for now we can only wait.
Seas0nPass untethered jailbreak for Apple TVs on 4.4.4 detailed, iOS apps coming soon? (Update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink @stroughtonsmith (Twitter) (1), (2) | Redmond Pie, @westbaer (Twitter), YouTube | Email this | Comments
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Blog – Starts ‘n’ Stops
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Highlights from the Physics arXiv this week
The Physical Basis Of Natural Units And Truly Fundamental Constants
Researcher: Google+ growth accelerating, passes 62M users
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Google+ membership is accelerating, and the young social network is now adding 625,000 users a day with over 62 million in total, a researcher has estimated.
Computerworld News
Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive knighted for the New Year, how’s your 2012 looking?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Apple Senior VP Jonathan (or Jony) Ive has been credited with fueling the company’s resurgence alongside Steve Jobs with products like the iMac, iPhone and iPad, and for these successes has been made a Knight Commander of the British Empire as a part of the New Year’s Honour’s List. Aside from having a much better NYE celebration than yours, he’ll be tapped on the shoulders by the Queen’s sword and that will forever be Sir Jony to you, commoner (we’ll see if he can make it through the ceremony without suggesting some tweaks for better balance and usability — you can see his passion above as he eats an invisible sandwich pontificates about new iMacs). It’s a bump up from his previous title of Commander of the British Empire and keeps the cycle going, as he released a statement appreciating the benefit of a “wonderful tradition in the UK of designing and making”.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple lead designer Jonathan Ive knighted for the New Year, how’s your 2012 looking? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 01:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Nintendo to offer a true app store for Wii U
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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We have already seen the Wii U with its superior graphics and fancy touchscreen controller and it looks really cool. If you are counting the days until that console launches you will get a kick out of this. Unsurprisingly Nintendo will be offering an app store for the game console. According to the reports that [...]
SlashGear
Porsche Design theme ported to BlackBerry 9900 / 9930, saves you a small fortune
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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If you want some of that Porsche Design look, without the German engineered price, then check what just pulled up on the driveway: a port of the custom theme and icons. Sadly, only BlackBerry 9900 / 9300 owners — which share much of the same hardware as the P’9981 — running BlackBerry OS7 (not 7.1) can give their handset that new car smell. This means the sharp lines and luxurious brushed finish that made the P’9981 catch our eye in the first place will remain firmly in those pockets deep enough to afford it. Tap the source link if you still want to add the racing stripes to your current saloon.
Porsche Design theme ported to BlackBerry 9900 / 9930, saves you a small fortune originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
RED Sues Arri Over Email Hacking, False Advertising In HD Camera Dust-Up
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Upstart digital cinema company RED, which has been the bane of many established camera companies for several years now, has filed suit against Arri, a leading camera manufacturer. They allege that Arri employed one Michael Bravin, a former employee of camera kit maker Band Pro, who hacked the email account of his former employee and stole confidential information relating to RED — and astroturfed for Arri on the official forums to boot. They also take exception to some claims Arri made in advertising disparaging RED’s cameras.
TechCrunch
Blog – Tout’s Analytics Hold Up a Mirror to Email Behaviors
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Quantifying the daily crush of email will make you want to write fewer of them.
Thanks to email management startup Tout, I just got access to an analytics dashboard that includes an array of deftly visualized statistics covering my use of email in 2011. And you can too, right here. If you’re wondering what you’ll get in exchange for giving Tout access to every email you sent and received in the past year, here’s a sample dashboard, so you can get a feel for the results. (They promise they don’t read or store any of it.)
Apple’s Terrific And Tumultuous 2011
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
Those words seem to encapsulate Apple’s 2011 perfectly. The year saw the company both became the most valuable company in the world and lose its founder, savior, visionary, and leader.
Earlier, Erick published his roundup of the bigger stories and themes in tech this year. Topping that list is the passing of Steve Jobs, a story so big that it far transcended typical tech news. But even without that sad news, 2011 was all about Apple. There was certainly enough news to constitute its own roundup. So here we go.
TechCrunch
Google, Facebook rivalry to heat up in 2012
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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As Google works to make its Google+ social network a major competitor to market leader Facebook, the battle between the two could reach a critical point in 2012, analysts say.
Computerworld News
Oddest questions asked in job interviews this year by tech firms
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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I have worked at real jobs in the past surrounded by people that were possibly the biggest idiots on earth. I knew we have all wondered at one point who exactly interviewed this person next to us in the office and decided they were worth hiring. If you don’t know that person in the office, [...]
SlashGear
Will Google, Amazon, and Facebook Black Out the Net?
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Eight things I’m looking forward to seeing at CES
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The annual Las Vegas tech extravaganza is nearly upon us. These products and services could help make it a winner.
CNET News
Fisker Karma recalled over battery fire risk
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Fisker is recalling 239 Karma plug-in hybrid sports cars because of a high-voltage battery problem that could result in a fire.
CNET News
Secret Apple Archives at Stanford reveal brand name source, video gems
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Though the actual origin of the name Apple Computer and how it was brought up might not set the world on fire with inspiration, the time between Steve Jobs’ passing this year and now has been one furious maelstrom of interest in the historical leavings of the mastermind himself – so more than likely, you [...]
SlashGear
LG Intel Android coming to CES 2012, denied in kind
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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There’s something about device information leaks that gets everybody’s engine going, and certainly there’s no greater time to get a new tank of gas than right before the year’s biggest event, CES 2012 – LG and Intel know this to be true, and are denying any an all claims that they are shaking hands for [...]
SlashGear
iPad 3 Retina Display photo leaked in Korean forum
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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The much rumored iPad 3 high resolution Retina Display may have turned up in a photo on a Korean forum. Not much was revealed in the way of details and the display wasn’t turned on. However, the photo tipped to MacRumors does reveal a subtle difference in its cable ribbon configuration that suggests support for [...]
SlashGear
Sirius XM releases Lynx radio, ensures that you never miss the beginning of another Jimmy Buffett song
Posted by Gsurface
on December 31, 2011
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Need a shiny new way to enjoy SiriusXM’s revamped channel lineup? For $ 250, you can pick up the Lynx Portable Radio, which lets you start shows and songs (Jimmy Buffett or otherwise) from the beginning and pause, fast forward and rewind programming. The wildcat radio also stores up to 200 hours of programming and features “dynamic” presets and a show finder, which offers up a programming schedule for the next seven days. It’s currently available online for $ 250 and will be hitting retail shops in the near future. More info on the radio can be read from the beginning in the press release and video trailer after the break. Still no word on that whereabouts of that shaker of salt.
Sirius XM releases Lynx radio, ensures that you never miss the beginning of another Jimmy Buffett song originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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