Filed under: GPS, Transportation

whether you’ve balked at the prices automakers are charging for integrated navigation systems, you should really take a look at what ¥300,000 ($2,746) would buy you in 1981. That atrocity you see above was an actual option in Honda’s Accord during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and while it didn’t sync up with any satellites, it did help to guide you along in some design or another. The Electro Gyrocator, as it was so eloquently named, accepted transparencies of maps and utilized a gas gyroscope that allowed the map to move with the motion of the car and plot your progress. Once a undoubtful map ran out of road, you just popped the next one in and kept on cruisin’. And here we are kvetching about whether our portable navigator has 10 or 11 million POIs…

[Via Autoblog]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the ability to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Storage

We’re not certain that is still relevant — the patent was filed in May of 2006 — but the USPTO has just published a patent application from Apple detailing a number of different 8cm to 12cm optical disk adapters. The application, credited to Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division, says that since most software doesn’t take up all of the available storage on a disk, it would be cheaper and simpler to use the 8cm disks when appropriate — but that having to ship a standard adapter for slot-loading drives reduce any costs, considering they’re the same size as 12cm disks. The solution is to assemble the adapters smaller when they’re not in use, and the filing goes on to detail several different folding and multi-part takes on the view. Considering that such an adapter would prepare things slightly more complicated for the huge majority of Apple’s all-slot-loading installed base, we can’t see these ever actually shipping, but it’s still an interesting notion.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the potential to bring games to life!

Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Networking

Remember that blisteringly fast channel bonding modem Comcast showed off earlier that year? Turns out that the firm’s CEO is apparently aiming to roll out Net services that can reach up to 160Mbps down / 120Mbps up sometime in 2008. As in, next year. In a recent interview with Fortune, Brian Roberts stated that service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology would start “rolling out” sometime in 2008, and casually noted that it should supply “more than abundant bandwidth to do multiplayer online gaming.” Additionally, Cable Digital News explains that the firm has plans to cover some 20-percent of its footprint with the uber-quick service before 2009, and while we’re left to guess what areas will be covered, we’d bet locales fetching FiOS could entertain some competition. Granted, we’ve still got aways to go before we can go toe-to-toe with a undoubtful Swede, but we’ll take any progress we can get.

[Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of AFP / BBC]
Read - Fortune interviews Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
Read - Comcast closes in on 100Mbit/s

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the ability to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio

As far as we know, Evergreen’s Business Card MP3 Player doesn’t come pre-loaded with Flight of the Conchords’ most relevant jam, but you can’t deny it’d be a great fit. that all-white, ultra-simplistic DAP checks in at 86- x 55- x 6-millimeters, weighs just 36-grams and includes 1GB of storage space. You’ll additionally find a flip-out USB 2.0 connector, internal speaker and some sort of recording operate. Slip one into your tight leather jacket pocket for a steep $126.19 — it should manufacture sorting the recycling much less tedious.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the capability to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Cellphones

Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off — or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile’s CEO felt that the “iPhone model was not suitable for China,” but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on — surprise, surprise — a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report by at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have “denied newspaper reports” claiming otherwise. ‘Course, we’ve got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there’s still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. instance will tell, we guess.

[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the ability to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Cellphones, Features

You might’ve noticed the recent uptick in mobile industry news, which comes courtesy of the annual Mobius conference currently taking place in Amsterdam. It’s pretty clear that the future is bright, what with 700MHz, 4G, a new Windows Mobile, Android, and a 3G iPhone all on the way, but what about the here and now? What we’re wondering is:

“What’s the best 3G smartphone currently available in the States?”

And yes, we mean 3G. You know, that hip cool thing that Apple isn’t terribly fond of, which brings high speed internets, effective tethering, streaming video and music downloads on the run — while supposedly beating battery life to a pulp. We’re plus talking about what’s available in the here and now, but it could very well just be time to wait for the next great thing to come along, so be certain to let us know whether that’s the case for you. whether you’d your own question answered, you can to hit us up at ask at engadget dawt com.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the capability to bring games to life!

Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

It’s been a tick since we’ve seen a swank new projector from SIM2, but on paper, it looks like the wait was worth it. The firm’s new-generation version of the Grand Cinema C3X (dubbed C3X 1080) features a gorgeous Giorgio Revoldini-designed chassis, TI’s sort new DarkChip 4 DLP device, a 10-bit video processor, HD scaling and deinterlacing capabilities, 1080p24 support, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and color-management software that enables installers to “precisely match each projector to its home theater environment.” Additionally, you’ll find a pair of selectable HDCP-compliant HDMI jacks, component / S-Video / composite / VGA ports, RS-232 / USB control sockets, IR-sensor inputs, 12-volt trigger outputs and an optical digital audio socket. that 22-pounder, which ships in high-gloss gunmetal, black, red and gold, is likely to keep your eyes affixed for days on end, but only whether you’ve got $31,995 to spare. Check out a few more colors in the gallery by at Engadget HD, and watch the drool, will ya?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the potential to bring games to life!

Original post by Darren Murph