Author: Serkadis

Neato’s XV-11 robot vacuum gets the hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Canon announces new Wireless File Transmitter units for latest pro models, enables DSLR hive-minding originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Quite frankly, readers, it looks like Audiovox is out of control. It’s already deluged us with RCA branded camcorders, digiframes, and iPod soundsystems, and now it looks like the company is entering the e-book game. The RCA-branded Lexi e-reader sports a 6-inch (800 x 600) 16-level grayscale display, 2GB storage, and a battery life of some 7,000 page turns. Other features include ezTurn functionality (for the south paw in your life) and something called Auto-Magic content synchronization. As for content, this bad boy ships with Barnes & Nobles Desktop Reader for purchasing, managing, and, yes, reading the latest Dan Brown bestseller (some sort of sinister conspiracy, we believe). But that ain’t all! Adobe Reader Mobile is also included, making it interoperable and fully compatible with PDF and ePub formats. Look for it in May for $229.99. PR after the break.

Continue reading RCA Lexi e-reader sports Barnes and Noble software, Audiovox hardware

RCA Lexi e-reader sports Barnes and Noble software, Audiovox hardware originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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InFocus updates IN2100 and IN3100 series projectors, boosts brightness, burns retinas originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2009 certainly was a busy year for gaming. We’ve had curious console refreshes, boycotts of blockbuster games, and more peripheral-laden games than you can shake a stick at. We even got to shoot people in an airport. And what better way to celebrate the year that was 2009 than by looking at some of the more interesting things said by games industry folks. Here is your 2009, in quotes.

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Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn today commended the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) for their 7-4 decision in favor of the closure of the Thomson Correctional Center.

Sen. Durbin and Gov. Quinn issued the following statement:

“We are pleased the bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has endorsed the sale of the Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government and rejected the partisan rhetoric.

Elected officials, community and business leaders and the residents of Northwest Illinois are wholeheartedly supporting this proposal because they understand that this is an opportunity to create up to 3,800 jobs and generate more than $1 billion in a region that desperately needs both.

Fully utilizing Thomson and upgrading this facility to make it the safest prison in the nation will not jeopardize the safety and security of our country or our state; we would never endorse a plan that would do so.

Despite the fear-mongering and nay-saying of a vocal few, we stand with state, county and local law enforcement officers and state’s attorneys from across the area, and with our nation’s military commanders, who know that this is about making our country safer by removing the deadly recruiting tool that Guantanamo has become.

This should not be a political or partisan issue. This is about doing what’s right for our troops, for our national security and for the people of Illinois.

We will continue doing everything we can to make this sale a reality and bring the jobs and other economic benefits to our state.”

Please see this list of support for the federal acquisition of Thomson Correctional Center.

We’ve been following Morgan Solar, which has developed a novel concentrating photovoltaic module, for a while. Until last fall, friends and family largely backed the startup, launched by a University of Toronto graduate. Then, in October, the company raised $4.7 million in an inaugural round of funding backed by a string of blue-chip investors, including Spain’s Iberdrola Renewables. The Series A funding helped put this promising solar venture on the map.

Yesterday, Toronto-based Morgan Solar said that it has increased its Series A funding to $8.2 million. Turnstone Capital Management, a New York-based asset management firm, led the funding. Morgan also got cash from the Iberdrola and Nypro venture capital firms and two unnamed Canadian VC groups.

When we last spoke to company founder John Paul Morgan in October, he had indicated that the company was looking to significantly grow its Series A funding.

Nicolas Morgan, the company’s head of business development and brother of John Paul Morgan, said it plans to use the proceeds to scale production of its concentrated photovoltaic solar panel, the Sun Simba HCPV.

Initial commercial deliveries of the panels are expected by the end of the year, according to the company.

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Budget, Hybrid, Japan, Hatchback, Scion, Toyota

You know that Toyota iQ your cousin’s seen running around Europe and Japan? It’s making its way Stateside, first to next week’s Detroit Auto Show, then to a Scion dealer near you as a hybrid. This is according to a scoop by Inside line. We’ve known for a while now that the iQ will be showing up as a Scion, just not for certain as a hybrid. Also, according to IL, the fate of the brand hangs in the balance. Also-also, they might (yay!) drop the name iQ.

That’s right, the diminutive Toyota with the silly name is going to greet us as a youth-branded Scion. In multiple flavors, too. First will come a five-door hatchback, followed next by a four-door sedan. The latter is almost a little puzzling – who on earth wants a four-door sedan version – but then we recall all the other cars PR types tell us the American market forces into four-door guise and we’re not surprised one bit. The Scion iQ will also come as a three-door hatch. Expect the five-door to show up first, towards the end of 2011.

The engine options are pretty interesting. If you so desire, a 1.3-liter four-banger will produce 93 horsepower. However, most folks will probably opt for the hybrid version. First of all, the gas and electric propulsion is so cheap that Toyota will be able to sell it for $15,000 or less. Second, expect a 1.5-liter four and some sort of electric motor to produce between 100 and 120 hp and return 60 mile per gallon. Not bad at all. Again, Inside Line ends their scoop explaining that if the iQ doesn’t get youngsters buying Scions, nothing will. Er, make that nothing will have a chance to, as Toyota is likely to fold the brand.

[Source: Inside Line]

Report: Toyota to offer hybrid Scion iQ in sedan, five-door originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that  Innovative Converged Devices (ICD) Vega we talked about a few months back?  You know, the one with a Tegra chipset inside?   Well, it’s officially on its way to T-Mobile UK for release later this year.  Touted as a “family hub tablet’, the unit is designed with one-touch access to a household calendars, giving families the ability to organize their schedules. The schedule can be accessed anyone, wherever they are, over the web or mobile device. 

The unit comes with a T-Mobile SIM card inside so easy, hands-free calling on-board, it’s easy to make a quick hands-free call at the touch of a button. Other features include WiFi web browsing, on-demand TV, access to social networks, video chat and games, and an FM radio.

T-Mobile UK and ICD are in the final stages of development and expect to have this out later in 2010.   As mentioned before, the ICD Vega tablet is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 250 mobile web processor and provides full HD 1080p video playback even when undocked from the base.

Visitors to CES are able to get a glimpse of the device.  If you’re in Vegas this week, head over to the T-Mobile UK booth!

Swedish carmaker Volvo is currently evaluating the viability of introducing an entirely electric-powered car known as a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) on the market, after already announcing a plug-in hybrid for 2012. In 2009, a small number of prototype versions of the C30 BEV have been built and tested internally by Volvo.

"The Volvo C30 is the first model we will try out with electric power. This car’s excellent properties in city traffic and its relatively low weight make… (read more)

While all eyes will be on the 2010 Detroit Auto Show starting Monday, Nissan is reminding us today that the next major show will be held in Geneva in March. The Japanese automaker announced today that it will debut the new Nissan Juke at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show with sales to begin shortly after.

Inspired by the Qazana concept, the Nissan Juke extends the crossover philosophy to the compact car segment. Nissan says that the Juke will fit into the Nissan range between the Note compact family car and the Qashqai crossover.

The Nissan Juke will be produced alongside the Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and Note at Nissan’s facility in Sunderland, Great Britain.

Powertrain and availability details will be announced next month.

Make the jump for the press release.

2011 Nissan Juke Teaser:

Press Release:

JUKE: NISSAN’S NEW SMALL CROSSOVER

* Sales to begin in Autumn for Europe
* Extending the Crossover philosophy to the small car segment
* Nissan’s fourth Crossover in Europe – reinforcing Crossover leadership
* Manufactured in UK

One month before its global media unveil on February 10th, Nissan today confirms the name of its forthcoming small Crossover. The Nissan Juke will go on sale from October, following its global public premiere at Geneva Motor Show in March.

The Nissan Juke will inject some much-needed dynamism into the small car segment, offering European car-buyers an alternative to the traditional, uninspiring small hatchback. As the fourth Crossover in Nissan’s European range, “Juke” reinforces the brand’s pioneering Crossover leadership in Europe.

The car was inspired by the Qazana concept car that received such a warm reception at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, and will fit into the Nissan range between the Note compact family car and the Qashqai crossover.

Nissan’s customer research identified a large proportion of European small and compact car buyers whose needs are not met by what they perceive to be uninspiring and unoriginal options available to them where copycat hatchbacks dominate.

The Nissan Juke has been designed and developed to give customers an alternative to the traditional small hatchback in Europe. We know that there are a lot of customers that are looking for a car which combines striking design, agile handling and driving pleasure, user friendly technology but not at the expense of practicality and convenience. These unique attributes will allow Juke to occupy a unique corner of the European market,” said Simon Thomas, Nissan’s European Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing.

“Nissan caught the mood of the European car-buying public with Qashqai crossover and we’ve worked hard to study the market in the same way for Juke to be sure we meet the needs of European customers. We’re confident that Juke will bring a new generation of customers to Nissan, in the same way that Qashqai did. Our philosophy of challenging conventions with Qashqai has been a huge success. We’ve just reached the 500,000 landmark and we’re applying many of the lessons learned from Qashqai to Juke. We’re confident we’ll have another success on our hands,” added Simon Thomas.

Juke will be manufactured alongside the Qashqai, Qashqai+2 and Note at Nissan’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sunderland, Great Britain.

With the introduction of Murano in the US in 2003, the Crossover concept was introduced to consumers who were looking for a vehicle that combined the dynamic design and handling characteristics of a passenger car, but with the added benefit of all-wheel drive traction and the improved visibility of a raised seating position, but without the boxy shape of an SUV.

In Europe, the introduction in 2007 of Nissan’s Qashqai heralded the mainstream introduction of the Crossover concept for the first time, providing an alternative to the traditional C-Segment offering. In just over two-and-a-half years, and with a half-a-million buyers in Europe, customer feedback shows they love its combination of understated, but sophisticated design which combines the lower body robustness of an SUV, but the upper body profile of a passenger car. Such has been demand for Qashqai that production was increased at the plant in Sunderland, UK, to meet supply. The Qashqai concept was followed by the introduction of the stretched wheelbase version, the Qashqai+2, offering extra interior space allowing the inclusion of a third row of folding seats to meet the needs of larger active families who need extra space or accommodation.

Details of forthcoming refreshments to the Qashqai were released earlier in December.

Full details of Juke will be released on 10th February 2010.

– By: Kap Shah

According to Alex Kipman, chief developer of Project Natal. It’s a result of Microsoft gathering “terabytes” of data of gaming postures. Must have been fun for the researchers.

[Tech Radar UK]

The district of Dallas will phone the radio & the TV stations & will communicate to them, whether the schools ar open or either they ar closed on unsparing weather condition days. One time the schools will be open for the day, the classes will be held for the whole of the school day.
Administrators confer with the weather bureau, police department, and gas and utility companies about forecasts, road conditions and available energy for heating the buildings. The administrators report the findings to the superintendent of schools who makes the final decision to open or close schools.
DALLAS ISD CANCELS ALL OUTDOOR ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES DUE TO SEVERE COLD WEATHER
DALLAS-The Dallas Independent School District is canceling all outdoor athletic activities starting tomorrow Thursday, Jan. 7, through Saturday, Jan. 9, due to the expected severe cold weather. Athletic activities scheduled for indoors will go on as scheduled.

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While a little bit off-topic, we felt compared to share this bit of news with our readers.  The rumors of HTC putting out their own handset running Brew have come to fruition.  We just received an email from HTC’s PR company advising of the newly announced HTC Smart, a new type of smartphone running Qualcomm’s Brew MP platform.  

Available this spring across Europe and Asia, the phone runs the company’s Sense UI and allows for the same customization that Android and Windows Mobile handsets allow.

“HTC Smart breaks new ground in delivering the powerful, in-demand smartphone features that consumers want on a more accessible device for global markets,” said Paul Jacobs, chief executive officer, Qualcomm Incorporated. “We are pleased to be supporting HTC as they utilize the capabilities of Qualcomm’s Brew Mobile Platform open operating system to offer high-end capabilities and a compelling mobile user experience at mass-market price points.”

The list of specs, carriers, and pricing hasn’t been passed along to us yet, nor were we able to dig them up anywhere.  If you come across them, please be sure to let us know. UPDATE: Here’s the official page over on HTC for the Smart.  Basic specs include a 300MHz chip, 256MB memory, and a 3mp camera. Thanks @CurtisWyffels!

What’s your take on HTC getting into the handset business in this manner?  Do you care either way?

“The criteria often use data that can be three years old,” said Chief Academic Office Michael Sorum. “If a campus was Academically Unacceptable in 2007 but earned an Acceptable or higher rating for the last 2 years, students can still request a transfer for next year. And that is exactly the situation for some of our campuses.”

Thirty Fort Worth ISD schools are on the current PEG list. However, eighteen of those schools are rated by the TEA as Academically Acceptable and two of those schools are rated as Recognized. Twelve schools have been rated Academically Acceptable or higher for the last two rating periods with seven being Academically Acceptable for the last three rating lists.

Arlington Heights High School, for example, has been rated Academically Unacceptable in 2008-2009 but only because of attendance data that is several years old and not because of academic performance.

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Mimi’s still blaming it on the alcohol. The seemingly sloshed songstress shimmed on stage in an eye-popping gown to make a second odd statement as she accepted the Favorite R&B Artist gong at last night’s 2010 People’s Choice Awards. This comes just days after Mariah slurred her way through a similar speech at the Palm Springs Film Festival Gala!

After the previously-announced 1956 Jaguar D-Type, auction house Gooding & Company revealed another rare Jaguar which is going to be put up for grabs at the upcoming two-day auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, after the previously-announced 1956 Jaguar D-Type. This time the announcement concerns a 1959 Costin Lister Jaguar Sports Racer (BHL 123), still in race-ready condition.

The vehicle’s first competition outing was the inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1959. The drivers includ… (read more)