Friday, September 30, 2011

IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video):


Leaving the confines of a Manhattan apartment, Lincoln Center has the uncanny ability to make one feel dwarfed. Home to the performing arts and haunt to New York City's glitterati, the landmark received the IBM makeover as part of the company's THINK exhibit -- an interactive installation designed to weave the story of technology as it applies to the fabric of life, achievement and change.



The first thing that catches the eye is IBM's sparkling 123-foot long, 12-foot high LCD wall lining a tunnel leading into the bowels of the NYC landmark. The "living" wall thrives off the surrounding environment, visualizing traffic patterns and analyzing corresponding air quality from nearby Broadway. It also shows the solar potential of every rooftop in the city, financial transactions and the amount of water leaking from the main aqueduct. As the event's producer Lee Green simply put it, the idea behind the set up is to "delegate understanding" to "intrigue and inspire" even the least technologically-inclined.

Continue reading IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceIBM | Email this | Comments

New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it's 1998

New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it's 1998:




Datel's latest controller for the Xbox 360 is inducing waves of nostalgia, with a curious LCD display channeling the ghost of the Sega Dreamcast's VMU. The Turbofire EVO also packs in button mapping and fine-tune rumble options alongside third-party controller staples like turbo button settings. These can all be tweaked through the 1.7-inch screen, with extra custom profiles available if you connect the proudly unofficial controller to a PC. Check the video after the break and if a baked-in display presses your buttons, it's available now direct from Datel.

Continue reading New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it's 1998

New Datel Xbox 360 controller packs LCD screen, parties like it's 1998 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq | sourceCodejunkies | Email this | Comments

Toyota Prius C undergoes name change, comes out feeling 'Aqua' blue

Toyota Prius C undergoes name change, comes out feeling 'Aqua' blue:


Ladies and members of the so-hip-it-hurts demographic, Toyota's got a Prius hybrid just for you. The curved, futuristic-looking EV first did the dais spin for us at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year and now, armed with a hue-matching 'Aqua' moniker, is prepping to rollout to lots in January of 2012. A report in Nikkei indicates this fuel efficient gas / electric car will get just about 40km/l (or 94mpg), besting its current Prius family member's 32km/l (about 75mpg). And as for that price tag, look for it to retail at around 1.7 million yen (or $22,000) when it makes its eventual splashy blue bow in the Japan and US next year.

Toyota Prius C undergoes name change, comes out feeling 'Aqua' blue originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog Green | sourceReuters | Email this | Comments

Tag Heuer concept watch beats 3.6 million times per hour, $89,000 price tag gives heart palpitations

Tag Heuer concept watch beats 3.6 million times per hour, $89,000 price tag gives heart palpitations:




Tag Heuer's high-end concept chronograph is so precise, blink and you'll miss it -- literally. The Mikrotimer Flying 1000's watch movement runs at 500Hz. Compare that to other high-end chronos plodding along at 5Hz, and you start to see the sort of power and precision Team Tag are working with -- this mesmerizing piece of wrist jewelry is capable of banging out 3.6 million beats per hour. Initially planned as a one-off, the concept watch will now go on sale for a lucky few timepiece obsessives. Be prepared to reach for your severely over-burdened money clip, though; the price is set at €65,000 ($88,580), with a limited run of ten arriving before the end of the year. Gawp in awe at the brief video after the break. You may have to sell the Batmobile.

Continue reading Tag Heuer concept watch beats 3.6 million times per hour, $89,000 price tag gives heart palpitations

Tag Heuer concept watch beats 3.6 million times per hour, $89,000 price tag gives heart palpitations originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 21:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear | sourceHodinkee (1), (2) | Email this | Comments

Adidas builds intelligent soccer cleats that can outwit even Joey Barton

Adidas builds intelligent soccer cleats that can outwit even Joey Barton:



Impoverished football soccer clubs, with their massive stadiums, billionaire owners and millionaire star players have it awful hard, you know. If a club wanted a statistical analysis of the team's movements over the 90 minutes (more if Sir Alex Ferguson is involved) then it needs to spend big on a ProZone statistics system. That's all due to change, thanks to Adidas' new adizero f50 miCoach -- an "intelligent football boot" that includes a space for the miCoach Speed Cell, a tracking device that works like a souped-up Nike+iPod. The chip records your speed, sprint times, distance, step and stride rates, stores it for up to seven hours and pushes it over WiFi or USB to the device of your choice. You'll be able to share your stats online with friends via Facebook and compare them to pros like diminutive pitchman Lionel Messi, diminutive Welshman Gareth Bale and the, ah, not-so-diminutive Emmanuel Adebayor. A pair of boots, Speed Cell and dongle will require your bank account to shrink to the tune of €245 ($330) and will hit the stores in November -- just in time for you to sit indoors during the snowy January transfer window.

Continue reading Adidas builds intelligent soccer cleats that can outwit even Joey Barton

Adidas builds intelligent soccer cleats that can outwit even Joey Barton originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Pocket-lint | sourceAdidas | Email this | Comments

iPhone 5 cases and realistic unibody dummy show off incredible slimness

iPhone 5 cases and realistic unibody dummy show off incredible slimness:


While we're only five days away from finding out the true appearance of the next-generation iPhone, our good friends over at BENM.AT went ahead and crafted their very own unibody dummy using CAD drawings, CNC tools and a block of aluminum -- seriously, that's how they roll! Granted, this work's only based on various data and rumor gathered across the web, but it's still a pretty convincing presentation -- the ultra slim teardrop design and elongated home button from previous reports are taken into account, and the mute switch has been relocated from the top left to the top right. BENM.AT told us that this dummy fits nicely into the supposed iPhone 5 cases that they obtained. Speaking of which, we also found some of these cases too -- read on to find out what they're like.

Continue reading iPhone 5 cases and realistic unibody dummy show off incredible slimness

iPhone 5 cases and realistic unibody dummy show off incredible slimness originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceBENM.AT | Email this | Comments

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet review

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet review:


When Lenovo announced a pair of Android tablets this summer, we didn't even pretend it was the IdeaPad K1 we were most jazzed about. Sure, it was exciting to see Lenovo enter the Android tablet market on any terms, but it was the ThinkPad Tablet that set our curious minds rolling. There was the design, for one -- an obvious homage to those black, red-nubbed laptops with the same name. It has personality, one that's inextricably tied to Lenovo's laptop know-how. It offers a full-sized USB port, an SD slot, 1080p output, a 3G SIM and a slew of accessories that includes a dock, pen and keyboard folio case. It's the kind of tablet we don't review all that often: one that might actually make for some painless productivity on the road.



As you can imagine, we've been waiting months to learn more, and if your tweets, comments and emails are any indication, so have you. Well, wait no more, friends. We've been spending almost a week with one and have oh-so much to say. So what are you waiting for? Meet us past the break, won't you?

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet review

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile joins Verizon to support Samsung in Apple patent lawsuit

T-Mobile joins Verizon to support Samsung in Apple patent lawsuit:


Verizon was the first carrier to come to Samsung's defense in the company's patent dispute with Apple, but it's not the last. As Reuters reports today, T-Mobile has now also sided with Samsung in the lawsuit, stating in a court filing that a sales ban on certain Samsung products would "unnecessarily harm" the carrier and its customers, and that, "at this late date, T-Mobile could not find comparable replacement products for the 2011 holiday season." The carrier also noted that its ads also "prominently feature" some of the Samsung products in question, and that those investments "cannot be recouped easily." As for the case itself, the next big date is an October 13th hearing on the injunction request.

T-Mobile joins Verizon to support Samsung in Apple patent lawsuit originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | sourceReuters | Email this | Comments

Turn a Lamp On and Off Just by Touching It with This DIY Tweak [DIY]

Turn a Lamp On and Off Just by Touching It with This DIY Tweak [DIY]:
Lamp switches can be kind of a pain—either you can't reach them comfortably, they break within a few months, or they just take a lot of force. With an inexpensive touch switch, you can turn any metal lamp on and off just by touching it with your finger. More »






How Physical Exercise Can Strengthen Your Brain [Exercise]

How Physical Exercise Can Strengthen Your Brain [Exercise]:
We already knew that exercising your body also exercises your brain in ways that brain-teasers like Sudoku don't, but a new study from the University of South Carolina finds that physical exercise literally strengthens the brain by creating new mitochondria (the power plants of your cells) in your brain—or at least that's the case for mice. More »