Future Solar Cells Will Be Made From Fly Eyes To Maximize Efficiency [Solar]
Scientists believe that fly eyes are perfectly shaped for manufacturing efficient solar cells. Specifically, copying the eye of the Blowfly would allow solar cells to "collect sunlight from a larger area than just light that falls directly on a flat surface." More »
The Triceratops Never Existed, It Was Actually a Young Version Of Another Dinosaur [Dinosaur]
Scientists are saying that the Triceratops dinosaur—you know, the three horned one—was actually a juvenile form of a Torosaurus, the three horned dinosaur you don't know. Apparently, dinosaurs' skulls can shape-shift. More »
Aluminum Rolls Uncoil For An Artistic Metallic Labyrinth [Art Installation]
Chikara Ohno's "Rolls" twists and turns through the air like giant silvery ribbons, using giant coils of aluminum siding as floor-to-ceiling decor and as chic glass topped tables. I hope the edges aren't sharp. More »
Dell Studio XPS 9100 arrives with six cores, little fanfare
AMD had its turn in the high-end Dell desktop spotlight, but it's time for another Intel beast, as the company's quietly upgraded its tower lineup to support Intel's consumer-grade champion chip, the 3.33GHz Core i7-980X. While the new Studio XPS 9100 looks just the same as its predecessor on the outside and sports the same basic options and ports, internally there's a 525W power supply with enough juice for a Radeon HD 5970 2GB graphics card (a $580 option) and slots for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory. You won't be getting any of this pixel-pushing goodness on the $950 base model, of course, which has only a (respectable) quad-core 2.66GHz Core i7-920 and an Nvidia GeForce G310 512MB, but the machine looks like it could hold its own with low-end Alienware cousins if you get into $2,000+ territory. Call us crazy, but we think there's a configurator session with your name on it.
Dell Studio XPS 9100 arrives with six cores, little fanfare originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Public Libraries Are Beating Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster in DVD Rentals [DVD]
Apparently, your local library is the biggest DVD rental store in the US. According to a survey released by the Online Computer Library Center, US public libraries lend an average 2.1 million movies/day. That's more than Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster. More »
Engadget Podcast 207 – 07.31.2010
The Engadget Podcasters are chattin' re: magic, black magic, crack, GHB, Kmart, and Ashton.
Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Music: Sadnes - Wicked Game
00:01:29 - New Amazon Kindle announced: $139 WiFi-only version and $189 3G model available August 27th in the US and UK
00:07:33 - Amazon sees e-book sales surpassing paper versions, has Mirasol technology in the Kindle labs
00:13:30 - RIM takes control of blackpad.com, laughter takes control of our minds
00:13:53 - RIM's 9.7-inch Blackpad rumored for November launch -- yes, Blackpad
00:14:22 - RIM and AT&T event next Tuesday -- BlackBerry slider and OS 6 en route?
00:24:32 - Apple iMac line gets speedbumped, low-end gets a Core i3
00:25:57 - Apple Mac Pro line overhauled with 12 processing cores, arriving in August for $4,999
00:26:17 - Apple Magic Trackpad official, shipping now for $69
00:26:30 - Magic Trackpad review
00:28:45 - Apple Battery Charger gets official: a battery charger, only you know, better (update: hands-on)
00:33:45 - Apple issues Magic Trackpad drivers for OS X and Windows, updates MacBooks with new gesture support
00:34:50 - Library of Congress adds DMCA exception for jailbreaking or rooting your phone
00:36:50 - Did the Fifth Circuit just make breaking DRM legal? Not quite.
00:51:28 - Augen's $99 GenBook smartbook preview
00:54:30 - Augen's $150 Android tablet hits Kmart circular, coming to stores later this week
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Filed under: Podcasts
Engadget Podcast 207 - 07.31.2010 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Enso whips up two smartphones and three new slates, but we wouldn’t order any of ‘em
Oh, Enso -- must you really give us a reason to hope? After dealing with what felt like a case of the vaporwares, and then being epically disappointed with the zenPad (which is now out of stock, curiously) that you finally shipped, we just can't muster up the courage to look fondly upon the five new products that are gracing your webstore. That said, those that don't mind risk taking and actually enjoy the thought of fighting for a refund have three new MIDs / slates to ponder along with a pair of Android-based smartphones to consider. Let's break 'em down real quick, shall we?
- zenPad 2 ($219; shipping now): Here you have a 5-inch, Android 1.5-based MID with an 800 x 480 resolution resistive touchscreen, a bundled stylus, inbuilt 3G, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, microSD slot (8GB included), 128MB of RAM, 256MB NAND Flash, a 624MHz Marvell PXA303 Xscale CPU, integrated accelerometer, onboard GPS, micro-USB port, 3.5mm headphone jack and a battery good for 4.5 hours of use. We're told that an Android 2.1 update is "imminent," but we believe that about as much as we believe BP's promise to "make it right."
- zenPad 3 ($249; pre-order): This here tablet boasts the exact same specifications as the zenPad 2 (right down to the battery life and resolution), but it rocks a 7-inch design that'll aid those who can't squint hard enough to see fonts on the 5-inch sibling.
- zenPad 4 ($199; shipping now): We hate to state the obvious, but this is quite obviously an iPad KIRF -- right down to the Home button. You'll find a 10.2-inch resistive touchpanel with a 1,024 x 600 resolution (one that Enso swears up and down "has a fast response and works very well"), along with Android 2.1, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, 256MB of RAM, 2GB of storage, a microSD slot (8GB included), a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, built-in accelerometer and a 2,400mAh battery that's good for 5 to 7 hours of life.
- zenPhone ($349; shipping now): So... it looks like a Nexus One KIRF, it's called a zenPhone, yet it says it's a MID. Oh, and it's not this ZenPhone. Whatever the case, it's got a 4.3-inch resistive touchscreen (800 x 480), 3G HSDPA radio, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 256MB of NAND Flash, a microSD slot (8GB included), a 3.2 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a 2,600mAh battery, onboard GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and -- wait for it -- Maemo 5 running the show. Yeah, seriously.
- zenDroid ($319; pre-order): In the market for a Droid KIRF, are you? You've come to the right place, with this one offering a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen (800 x 480), 3G HSDPA, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, an FM radio tuner, Android 2.1 ("upgradable to 2.2," we're told), a microSD slot (8GB bundled in), 512MB of NAND Flash, a 624MHz Marvell PXA935 processor, 5 megapixel rear camera, 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera, a 1,500mAh battery, onboard GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB connector.
[Thanks, Neil]
Enso whips up two smartphones and three new slates, but we wouldn't order any of 'em originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
PS3 firmware 3.41 said to be causing hard drive upgrade problems
The recently released PS3 firmware 3.41 seemed to just be a minor update that added a new "You May Like" section to the PlayStation Store, but it looks like it's been causing nothing but headaches for anyone trying to upgrade the hard drive in their console. As a 30-page strong thread on the official PlayStation forums reveals, folks upgrading their hard drive have been getting a "no applicable data" error after trying to install the update, which has left them with a non-working PS3 and, in some cases, a corrupted original drive. According to CVG, the issue may have something to do with a newly discovered feature of the 3.41 update that allows for more incremental patches, which might also explain why the problem only seems to be affecting PS3s where the firmware is stored in on the hard drive instead of the system's memory. As for Sony, it hasn't offered an official explanation just yet, but all indications are that it's a bug and not an intentional blocking of hard drive upgrades -- at least we hope it is. Head on past the break for a video of the problem.
Continue reading PS3 firmware 3.41 said to be causing hard drive upgrade problems
PS3 firmware 3.41 said to be causing hard drive upgrade problems originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Bring The Stig Home With Top Gear’s Stig-Copter [The Stig]
All we know is, he's called The Stig. And that now we can race through the air with an RC mini-helicopter styled after the mysterious Top Gear cast member's iconic helmet. More »
This Pixar Luxo Jr Lookalike Lamp Was Made With a Bicycle Chain [Lamp]
Take the Pixar Luxo Jr Lamp and then remix it with a recycled bicycle chain and what do you get? An incredibly cute lookalike lamp that can be bent and shaped in multiple directions. More »