|  |  |  | | | | | Engadget | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Don't let that headline fool you: although Lenovo technically just unveiled one product, the ThinkStation E31 workstation, it actually shoehorned two distinct machines into one press release. Behold: a budget workstation available as a conventionally sized tower, as well as compact one. Whichever you choose, both support up to 32GB of RAM and are available with either an Intel Xeon E3-1200 CPU or a range of Ivy Bridge processors. Regardless of the size, you'll get nine USB ports, including four of the 3.0 variety. And, in addition to Windows 7 / XP, they're Windows 8-ready, and can run Red Hat as well. It's at this juncture, though, that the specs start to diverge, with the heftier machine naturally offering more expandability. The full-size tower, for instance, can accommodate up to three HDDs, or 9TB of hard drive storage, while the smaller number makes room for two HDDs, or 6TB of space. (Either way, you can opt for solid-state drives.) On the graphics front, both will be offered with Intel's HD P4000 solution, but the upgrade options once again differ: expect a max offering of NVIDIA Quadro Q4000 graphics on the tower, and Quadro Q600 on the smaller guy. Intrigued? Both systems will start at $629, with the fuller-sized tower arriving on June 5th and the compact model following on June 13th. Continue reading Lenovo shows off ThinkStation E31 workstation in two different sizes Lenovo shows off ThinkStation E31 workstation in two different sizes originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 May 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Kobo is the underdog trying to scrape points while the e-reader heavy hitters of Amazon and B&N duke it out. The Vox was the Canadian outfits response to the Nook and Kindle Fire, but despite a similar price tag, our e-reader expert found that its last-generation hardware was no match for the big boys. That said, plenty of people must have bought them so tell us; how has it been? Do you regret shunning the other two for it, or does it have hidden charms that we didn't see first time around? Let us know in the comments below. How would you change the Kobo Vox? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 23:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.
 What seems more futuristic: flying cars or self-driving cars? They both sound a bit like science fiction, but they're both getting closer to becoming a reality. In the latest chapter of Google's efforts to develop a car that uses video cameras, radar sensors and lasers to navigate through traffic, the state of Nevada just granted Google the world's first license for a computer-controlled, driverless Toyota Prius. Meanwhile, this week we also checked in on the PAL-V (which stands for "Personal Air and Land Vehicle"), a two-seat hybrid car and gyroplane that runs on gas, biodiesel or bio-ethanol. In other transportation news, the Texas Central Railroad floated a plan to build a $10-billion bullet train that would run between Houston and Fort Worth, and Toyota officially unveiled its second-generation 2012 RAV4 EV, which features a Tesla powertrain. We also saw green technology cropping up in unexpected places this week, like the $1-billion ghost town that will be built on virgin desert land in Lea County, New Mexico to test emerging green technologies. Construction on the ghost town is set to begin in late June. Milwaukee native Bryan Cera invented Glove One, a 3D-printed glove that doubles as a cell phone. And in Tokyo, participants heaved 100,000 LED lights into the Sumida River as part of the 2012 Tokyo Hotaru Festival. Although it certainly looked cool, that's a lot of LED bulbs to literally dump in the river, and it raises some questions about e-waste. GE found a more practical use for LEDs, unveiling a new LED light bulb to replace the 100-watt incandescent. Continue reading Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-driving cars, solar parasols and the ultimate DIY Iron Man suit Inhabitat's Week in Green: self-driving cars, solar parasols and the ultimate DIY Iron Man suit originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 21:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012 Refresh Roundup: week of May 7th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 20:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Not willing to give up your old dumbphone, but still need something to feed your Android addiction? You're in luck: Samsung's serving up two devices today rocking Google's dessert themed OS, the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and the Galaxy Player 4.2. Sammy's latest slate rings in at $400, buying 16GB of internal memory (expandable to 32GB via microSD), a 1GHz dual-core processor and a serving of Ice Cream Sandwich. The Galaxy Player 4.2, on the other hand, can be found munching Gingerbread for a mere $200. If you're looking for a new Galaxy that makes phone calls, however, you'll have to wait for the Galaxy S III. PSA: Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Galaxy Player 4.2 now available online originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 19:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Amazon (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Acer's Liquid series phones only occasionally reach the FCC, so it's with some surprise that we've just spotted the still-fresh Liquid Glow getting the US agency's approval under its E330 model name. Details are scarce as to whether or not there's been any changes made to the Android 4.0 phone on its way out of Taiwan, however: there's no telltale signs like cellular frequencies or carrier badging. If anything, Acer is hoping to keep information hush-hush by stamping a 180-day confidentiality seal on the manual and photos. It's entirely possible that this is the international GSM model with no 3G support for North American carriers, so we wouldn't get worked up about local release plans. Even so, knowing Canadian carrier Rogers' tendency to offer Acer phones, there's still a possibility that a version of the Liquid Glow might go on sale this side of the Pacific. Acer Liquid Glow hits the FCC, keeps its secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FCC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Phones, watches, TVs and in-car entertainment. Android has been put to work in many corners of our technological world. Now, it's reached another, less expected one -- mirrors. The Verge spotted itself the Smart Wash Basin prototype at Smartphone and Mobile Expo, and took a good look into it. The heavy lifting is done by a hidden Android tablet, and the reflective display is actually a separate monitor with a semitransparent piece of reflective glass. If you're thinking "smudges," hang fire, as RF proximity sensors are used, so you interact with it without smearing your paws across the shiny surface. The show prototype had water monitoring functions, and was coupled up to a set of scales in the floor. The manufacturer hopes one of the uses for the invention could be reading the news at the hairdresser. What we want to know is, when did salons suddenly go all futuristico? Seraku's Android mirror lets you reflect on your operating system originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  The Verge | Seraku (Japanese) | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  While thousands upon thousands of Americans are celebrating graduation weekend with degree in hand, it looks as if the CEO of one particular internet company will be wondering why he lied about his. After weeks of investigating, word on the street has it that freshly appointed (as in January 4th) CEO Scott Thompson will be "stepping down." In other words, he's being canned. The news comes from an All Things D report on the matter, with the official word expected soon. The scandal took hold a few weeks back, with the official Yahoo bio listing a computer science degree that he allegedly didn't even have. The company line is that he's bolting for "personal reasons," but seriously -- what are the chances these "reasons" would've emerged sans scandal? It's bruited that Yahoo's global media head Ross Levinsohn will be filling Scott's shoes for now, but there's no word yet on who the firm's next CEO will be. It's a shame, but it sure feels like a revolving door in Yahoo's corner office. ATD: Yahoo's CEO Scott Thompson to step down amidst degree scandal originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 12:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | All Things D | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Can't say it's striking us as any sort of surprise, but the seemingly destined-to-fail LightSquared just might be out of options. After getting a high-five from Sprint and plenty of attention for its initiatives in bringing yet another wireless option to America, those blasted GPS interference issues (or "supposed" issues, depending on who you ask) eventually became too much to overcome. According to a breaking report out of The Wall Street Journal, Philip Falcone's venture is seriously teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, as "negotiations with lenders to avoid a potential default faltered," according to the ever-present "people familiar with the matter." Purportedly, the two sides have until 5PM tomorrow to strike a deal that'll keep the firm out of bankruptcy court (if you'll recall, it owes over $1.6 billion dollars to various entities), but given just how far apart these sides remain, its fate seems all but sealed. We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, but don't go placing bets on yet another debt-term violation waiver. WSJ: LightSquared 'preparing' for bankruptcy protection filing, final decision coming tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | The Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. Just call this week's column the something borrowed edition. Rather than do a formal review -- the sort of cookie-cutter project that can be over and done with in a week, frankly -- we asked three staffers to not just test new products, but to live with them. For starters, our very own jet-setting Darren Murph used Verizon Wireless' new Jetpack MiFi 4620L to get work done on the go, while our new editor Jon Fingas traded in his Sony clock radio for an iHome dock that promised to play nice with his non-Apple device. Rounding things out, Sharif took a $4,000 3D projector for a weeks-long spin because, well, why not? Continue reading IRL: Verizon Jetpack MiFi 4620, iHome iC50 and Epson's EH-TW9000 3D projector IRL: Verizon Jetpack MiFi 4620, iHome iC50 and Epson's EH-TW9000 3D projector originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 10:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Regular readers will know that the FCC is a bit of a virtual whistle-blower, alerting tech-hungry Americans to when new goodies might soon be landing on their shores. Other times it coughs up the odd thing we weren't even waiting for. Today's offering appears to be a 3G tablet from NEC. There's little in the way of specification, or even pictures, but we do know it's sporting GSM and HSPA radios along with the standard WiFi. The device measures 222.6 mm across, which strongly points to a display somewhere in the 7-inch region. The KMP7R4D1-1A model number isn't ringing any bells right now, but we do remember a few Japanese models that bear a passing resemblance not that long ago. NEC tablet with GSM and HSPA breaks cover at the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | FCC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Arduino boards have smoothed the creation of lots of eccentric thingamajigs, but robotics and controllers are still not for the faint of heart. Luckily, RoboMatter is coming to the rescue of would-be roboticists with a public beta version of its C-based RobotC language for Arduino. Joining Lego Mindstorm and other bots, Arduino will get RobotC's straightforward sensor and motor controls, along with a debugger and sample program library, while still keeping its native Wiring language. So, if you want to be a Kickstarter magnate , or just out-weird everyone else, rolling your own droid is now a bit easier. Arduino mechs learn RobotC, plot assimilation with Lego Mindstorms originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 04:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | RobotC | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  Sure, Nokia's Lumia 900 and 808 PureView may have garnered much of the spotlight lately, but lest we forgot about its flagship MeeGo handset. If you've been anxiously hoping to somehow score an unlocked N9 in the US sans gray-market importers, apparently Fry's Electronics has you covered. Phone News spotted a listing for the phone in the store's latest weekly ad -- although upon closer inspection, it appears that the retailer isn't too sure about its actual specs. Aside from describing the 3.9-inch slab of polycarbonate as a 4.3-inch device, it's also flubbed on the OS, calling it "Mego." Perhaps the most interesting error, however, is that the handset's ClearBlack AMOLED display is listed as Super AMOLED -- Samsung's competing technology. Assuming these are merely copy errors, you'll be able to pick one up for a spendy $600. Hit up the source link below to view the full ad. Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 02:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Phone News | Fry's | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Sure, Nokia's Lumia 900 and 808 PureView may have garnered much of the spotlight lately, but lest we forgot about its flagship MeeGo handset. If you've been anxiously hoping to somehow score an unlocked N9 in the US sans gray-market importers, apparently Fry's Electronics has you covered. Phone News spotted a listing for the phone in the store's latest weekly ad -- although upon closer inspection, it appears that the retailer isn't too sure about its actual specs. Aside from describing the 3.9-inch slab of polycarbonate as a 4.3-inch device, it's also flubbed on the OS, calling it "Mego." Perhaps the most interesting error, however, is that the handset's ClearBlack AMOLED display is listed as Super AMOLED -- Samsung's competing technology. Assuming these are merely copy errors, you'll be able to pick one up for a spendy $600. Hit up the source link below to view the full ad. Fry's stocks unlocked Nokia N9, is slightly misinformed about its specs originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 May 2012 02:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Phone News | Fry's | Email this | Comments | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |  |
