.::REALITYRECALL::.

An energy efficient Ford F-150 certainly sounds like an oxymoron, but the folks at Protean Electric have proven that even this gas guzzler can go green. So how’d they do it? Well, with in-wheel motors of course. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this technology put to use, but if things go according to plan, Protean’s version of the in-wheel motor could be road ready as soon as next year. The things weigh 68 pounds (31 kilograms) a piece and offer 110 horsepower per wheel. When pared with this F-150 — rocking a custom battery — they offered up 100 mile-per-hour speeds and a range of 100 miles. That might not be enough to take you across the great state of Texas, but it’s certainly sufficient for tooting around the ranch. Head on over to the source link for more on Protean’s in-wheel technology.

Protean Electric in-wheel motors have the stuff to make an F-150 turn green originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog Green  |  Protean Electric  | Email this | Comments

We’ve seen plenty of wireless charging solutions that employ inductive power and other technologies to charge devices directly (heck, your next car may even have a Powermat in its console), but Panasonic’s Chargepad may be the first such product to charge, well, other chargers, rather than gadgets themselves. At launch, the Chargepad will only be compatible with two models, the QE-PL101-W and QE-PL201-W, which you can use to juice up cell phones and other USB-compatible devices on the go. We’d love to see the company embedding inductive charging components in its cameras and other devices instead, but if you’re an early adopter who happens to live in Japan, then you can expect to pay between $110-130 (open pricing, depending on battery capacity) for the Chargepad and a mobile charger when these hit stores on June 24.

Update: As reader SegueToNowhere points out, the Chargepad has a Qi logo, meaning it should work with your favorite Qi devices.

Panasonic Chargepad wirelessly juices up mobile chargers, nothing else originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CrunchGear  |  Panasonic (JP)  | Email this | Comments

Long overdue: the mushy “suggested” evacuation now has some force behind it. The Japanese government has declared a 12 mile radius around the crippled Fukushima plant a mandatory evacuation zone—all but emergency workers are banned from entering. More »

Canadians share second place among the most contented people on the planet, according to a global survey that asked respondents to rate their own lives.

Chrome: You use Chrome on every computer where it’s possible. Wouldn’t it be nice if Chrome could, like Firefox, keep note of what tabs you had open on another system? The FreshStart extension does just that, and can also save your favorite tab sessions for easy loading. More »

We recently deemed the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer the “best Honeycomb tablet yet.” Admittedly that was before we got our hands on the T-Mobile G-Slate, but it’s still an awfully nice hunk of glass, and now we know just how much you’re going to have to pay to get one — and exactly when you can plunk down that credit card. The 10.1-inch Transformer with its 1280 x 800 IPS panel and 16GB of storage will cost you $399, while the 32GB version will set you back $499. That docking station, which kinda sorta turns it into a laptop? That costs $150. Units are expected to hit retail on Tuesday, April 26th, meaning you have just five days to scrounge together four or five Benjamins — plus tax, of course.

ASUS Eee Pad Transformer hits US on April 26th for $399 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

You already know that everything under the sun is available as Internet porn. But in a new book, two scientists investigate what our online porn searches say about human sexuality. Their work isn't without its problems, but they turn up some pretty interesting data on age, body size — and dicks. More »

Chrome: If you do most of your reading in Google Reader, you probably find truncated RSS feeds—that is, feeds that only give you the first paragraph of a post—annoying. Convert them all into full feeds with one simple Chrome extension. More »

There are innovations in design and then there are innovations in design that make you cry joyful tears of double downs and chicken nugget soda cups. You already know which innovation this new dual-chambered Slurpee cup from 7-eleven is. More »

Yesterday we opened the map of the United States in Google Map Maker, enabling you to add your local knowledge of the U.S. to Google Maps. With this addition, the maps of 187 countries and regions—including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are now available for editing by users to improve freshness and detail.

These edits are often visible immediately on Map Maker, but aren’t seen by most users until they’re published on Google Maps. In the past we would process edits in large groups, which meant it could take weeks before approved edits appeared on Google Maps. In preparation for yesterday’s launch, we recently added a new publishing system to reflect Map Maker user contributions on Google Maps more quickly. Once a Map Maker edit has been approved, it will now appear on Google Maps within minutes.

You often have the latest information about changes that occur in the places where you live and work. If a new coffee shop opens along your way to work, or you discover a tennis court nearby, you can add to or update the map and help other users find those spots just minutes after your edit is approved.

With our new publishing system and the efforts of the Map Maker community, we’re working together to make Google Maps a more detailed, up-to-date reflection of the world around us. You can see the results of these efforts through real-time edits by users around the world at mapmaker.google.com/pulse. To add your local knowledge, learn more or get started mapping at mapmaker.google.com.

Posted by Jamie Zyskowski, Software Engineer, Google Maps and Chandan Shanbhag, Software Engineer, Google Map Maker

If you’re holding out for an x86-based tablet from Intel, good news! They’re working with the Android team on a version of Honeycomb that will run on their devices (most likely Atom-based chipsets). [The Register via Liliputing via Slashdot] More »

Beer is still the drink of choice for many Canadians who consume alcoholic beverages, in volume and dollar value.

Waterloo-based Research In Motion launched the BlackBerry PlayBook yesterday in Canada and the United States. This tablet was practically available in every retailer possibly plus also available for the past couple weeks on pre-order. So how did first day sales go? RIM hasn’t announced official results but RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky says “the […]

Related posts:

1. Mobilicity employees start BlackBerry PlayBook training
2. Contest: Win a BlackBerry PlayBook!
3. BlackBerry PlayBook coming soon to Bell

To be sold as a subscription.

You may or may not have seen the news about the Google Chrome production notebooks floating around the web today. Ariotech reports that “Google product manager Sundar Pichai said, Google were still fixing some bugs and improving compatibility with devices such as digital cameras…

Toshiba’s first Honeycomb tablet, which we first laid hands upon back in January, has finally been priced with an honest to goodness ship date. Unfortunately, this 10.1-incher with 1,280 x 800 pixel display, USB, HDMI, and 5 megapixel rear-facing cam is Japan-only for now, where the Tegra-2 powered Android 3.0 tablet has just made its official debut as the Regza AT300 with a ¥60,000 price (about $723). Look for it to hit the hard streets of Nippon in late June. Now if we could just get a name, date, and price for locations a bit closer to home we’d be all set.

Toshiba’s 10.1-inch Regza AT300 Honeycomb tablet hits Japan in June originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Engadget Japanese  |  Dynabook  | Email this | Comments