Author: Terren

We’ve never questioned the rigidity of Panasonic’s Toughbook line — after all, we’ve been shown just how rugged these things are time and time again — but a new video from the company is just too clever to pass over. Sure, it hardly makes any clearer what’s already clear, but just in case you were still having doubts, Panny’s Toughbook line is mighty tough. As in, tough enough to survive being towed behind a snowmobile in bitterly cold conditions. Unfortunately, the company only shows the screen lighting up after the ride’s done, so there’s still the possibility that the keyboard is totally shot — but hey, props for being alive at all, right? Have a look yourself in the video above.

[Thanks, Tsuyoshi]

Panasonic chains Toughbook to a snowmobile, shows signs of life post-torture (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  YouTube (Panasonic)  | Email this | Comments

Right now two camps seem to be getting the most supporters: seven-inchers, like the Streak 7 and BlackBerry PlayBook, and 10-inchers, like the Motorola Xoom and the Apple iPad. But, sometimes weapon systems need to be a little more specialized. Sometimes the templates don’t fit, and the $530 (after rebate, on-contract) T-Mobile G-Slate by LG isn’t fitting into those categories, slotting somewhere in between with its 8.9-inch display backed with Tegra 2 graphics, 4G HSPA+ wireless, and all the oomph you want in a modern Android device. It’s a little smaller and little lighter than the 10-inchers, bigger and meatier than the sevens and, by cutting down the middle, it hits almost all the right marks.

Continue reading T-Mobile G-Slate review

T-Mobile G-Slate review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Still searching for today’s internet time sink? Then look no further than Nokia’s just launched beta version of Ovi Maps 3D. Thanks to some software wizardry and mysterious mapping know-how, it’s now able to display cities in a new 3D view that you’re able to zoom in and around to your heart’s content. You can also do the same thing in Google Earth’s 3D view, of course, but Nokia just might have a leg up in some respects. Unfortunately, it’s still staying mum on exactly how it all works, but you can dive right in and start exploring for yourself at the link below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Nokia’s now finally gotten official with this on its blog, and revealed that C3 is responsible for the impressive 3D mapping technology. Hit up the links below for some additional details, and head on past the break for a quick video demo if you need a bit of incentive to install the necessary plug-in.

Continue reading Nokia launches Ovi Maps 3D beta, challenges Google Earth as your virtual tour guide of choice

Nokia launches Ovi Maps 3D beta, challenges Google Earth as your virtual tour guide of choice originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Ovi Maps 3D  | Email this | Comments

Spielberg’s new show Falling Skies may be much darker than we anticipated. Watch this five-minute sneak peek (which was shown to the crowd at WonderCon) of little kids drawing pictures of how their parents died in the alien invasion. Chilling. More »

The world’s love affair with tablets may have been bubbling along under the surface for a while, but it really got started in earnest during CES 2010. Back in those wild days, you could see 15-inch jumbo screens, TV tuners, and even hybrid pseudo-laptops stalking the tablet area of your favorite trade show. ASUS was there too, of course, though it still believed in the upstart smartbook category — a modernized take on the netbook that relied on an ARM CPU and a mobile OS to extract more battery life out of a lighter, thinner device — and was busy showing off a seductively slim prototype of just such a machine. Alas, nothing came of that Neo concept, most likely because it was relying on Android 1.6 and a Tegra 2 system-on-chip that was then still months away from hitting the market.

Today, however, is a different day. The 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 is finally being produced in volume, Google has evolved Android to version 3.0, specifically targeting higher-resolution displays, and ASUS has abandoned the idea that a keyboard is crucial to mobile computing. No, wait, that last bit’s still there. The Eee Pad Transformer is a 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet very much in keeping with the current trend, but it also has an optional keyboard dock that turns it into a, you guessed it, instant smartbook. So, does that mean you'll get two devices in one or has ASUS been overly ambitious and compromised too much? We got to grips with the £380 16GB WiFi-only model and its keyboard buddy (£430 when bought as a pair) in an effort to find out. Answers await just past the break.

Continue reading ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (UK edition) review

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer (UK edition) review originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

This video was posted a week ago, and the tsunami itself was early March. But a point of view this powerful—this terrifying—resonates today, and will long after Japan has picked up the pieces and put them back together. [The First Post] More »

iRobot recently deployed a pair of robots to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, where intense levels of radiation have made it increasingly dangerous for human rescue workers to operate. The remote-controlled Packbots entered one of Fukushima’s reactor buildings on Sunday morning, in the hopes of providing authorities with a better idea of what’s going on inside the plant’s nether regions. Each Packbot entered the facility with an attached video camera, allowing Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) to receive live interior images and temperature readings of the troubled reactor building. It would certainly be a daunting task for any human to undertake, but the Packbot is specially designed to cope with hazardous conditions (in the past, it’s been used to defuse bombs for the U.S. Army). And the Packbot isn’t alone, either. Authorities are also using a mechanical excavator and transporter to wipe away some of the debris outside the plant, while an unmanned helicopter has been hoisted skyward, to take aerial photos of the area. TEPCO has yet to release information on the Packbots’ findings, but if Sunday’s mission proves to be a success, they’ll be sent in to two other reactor buildings, to do it all over again. Check out a video and an extra image of the Packbot, after the break.

Continue reading iRobot Packbots enter Fukushima nuclear plant to gather data, take photos, save lives (video)

iRobot Packbots enter Fukushima nuclear plant to gather data, take photos, save lives (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Apr 2011 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  IDG  | Email this | Comments