Continue reading English Court: Top Gear didn’t libel Tesla

English Court: Top Gear didn’t libel Tesla originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Color us a yellow shade of mendacious, but if we designed something that works 99.999999999997 percent of the time, we’d probably round off and give ourselves a big ol’ 100 percent A+. We’d probably throw in a smiley faced sticker, too. Computer scientist Holger Hermanns, however, is a much more honest man, which is why he’s willing to admit that his new wireless bike brake system is susceptible to outright failure on about three out of every trillion occasions. Hermanns’ concept bike, pictured above, may look pretty standard at first glance, but take a closer look at the right handlebar. There, you’ll find a rubber grip with a pressure sensor nestled inside. Whenever a rider squeezes this grip, that blue plastic box sitting next to it will send out a signal to a receiver, attached to the bike’s fork. From there, the message will be sent on to an actuator that converts the signal into mechanical energy, and activates the brake. Best of all, this entire process happens will take just 250 milliseconds of your life. No wires, no brakes, no mind control. Hermanns and his colleagues at Saarland University are now working on improving their system’s traction and are still looking for engineers to turn their concept into a commercial reality, but you can wheel past the break for more information, in the full PR.

Continue reading Wireless bike brake system has the highest GPA ever

Wireless bike brake system has the highest GPA ever originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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320GB HDD available this month for Xbox 360, $130 ups your storage game originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading The Engadget Interview: Lala and Color founder Bill Nguyen

The Engadget Interview: Lala and Color founder Bill Nguyen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s that time of year again, when the leaves turn colors and a slew of new programming pops up on our HDTVs. We’ve pushed the series premieres to the top of each day’s listing to help you keep an eye out for some of the new shows coming your way, so now all you have to do is clear enough DVR space to keep up. Check out which selections from this week’s long list of possibles caught our eye, followed after the break by our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and videogames.

Gears of War 3
Microsoft and Epic are ready to close out their trilogy on the Xbox 360 with this week’s release of Gears of War 3. Its cover based, third person shooter gameplay feels as fresh as it did the first time around and according to our friends at Joystiq, this iteration features “one of the most exciting, consistent campaign experiences on the Xbox 360, or any other system.” Assuming the new dedicated servers can keep online play running smoothly this time around, we don’t see any reason to miss this go-round with Marcus, Dom, Cole and whichever of the Carmine brothers is still alive.
($59.99 on Amazon, September 20th)

Workaholics
This was a surprise favorite for us last year, as its stars (and writers) Blake, Adam and Anders deal with the (slow) process of becoming adults while working and living together. It brings more to the table than your average stoner comedy, thanks to its stars / writers from the Mail Order Comedy Troupe. Last season’s To Friend A Predator episode took the it’s-so-wrong-it’s-funny style to its limit and left us in stitches, check out a quick preview of season two embedded after the break.
(September 20th, Comedy Central, 10:30PM)

Person of Interest
One more fall ritual is the debut of an interesting JJ Abrams-helmed show that confuses, intrigues, and eventually horrifically disappoints (on that same note, Fringe also debuts its new season Friday night). This year that show is Person of Interest, a show that features investigators trying to decipher and solve violent crimes before they actually happen. The only really weird thing is how grounded that plot is for a JJ Abrams show. After Lost we promised we’d never go down that rabbit hole again, we’ll find out how strong we are when this premieres Thursday night.
(September 22, CBS, 9PM)

Continue reading Must See HDTV (September 19th – 25th)

Must See HDTV (September 19th – 25th) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Call of Duty certainly knows how to wear out its merchandising welcome. After announcing a line of eye strain-reducing glasses and a series of branded headsets, Activision’s juggernaut franchise is steamrolling its pre-release hype all over a custom Xbox 360. The limited edition 320GB console comes bundled with two similarly bedecked wireless controllers, a requisite copy of Modern Warfare 3 and even includes franchise-specific boot sounds. You can snag this video gaming swag on November 8th for a cool $399, or grab the headset and controllers separately. It’s your call and your paycheck, after all. Official presser awaits you after the break.

Continue reading Modern Warfare 3 limited edition Xbox 360 set ushers in last wave of marketing hype

Modern Warfare 3 limited edition Xbox 360 set ushers in last wave of marketing hype originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One of the things that made Google apps the web-based productivity suite to beat was the ability to access your information offline using Gears. When that experiment was killed, many of us let loose a single tear as we contemplated returning to our desktop apps. Well, as promised, HTML5 is finally returning Gmail to its former offline glory. Docs and Calendar will follow in the coming days, but anyone can get access to their Gmail accounts offline now by installing the Offline Google Mail app for Chrome. Before we had even finished spreading the wonderful news we already had it installed and fired up. So, how’s it work? Well, you’ll just have to keep reading after the break to find out.

Continue reading Offline Google Mail hands-on

Offline Google Mail hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 14:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since the death of Gears we’ve been, rather impatiently, awaiting the return of offline access to our Google apps. Well that day has finally come — provided you’re a Chrome fan. The fine folks out in Mountain View just unveiled a new app for their browser (which means it also works on Chome OS) called Offline Google Mail that will keep you connected to your all important messages even when you can’t get a connection. You’ll notice the app looks a heck of a lot like the web app for tablets, and that’s because that’s basically what it is. There are some differences — keyboard shortcuts work — but at it’s heart it’s the same HTML5 browser app mobile users have been enjoying for some time. To install the offline version you’ll have to uninstall the standard Gmail Chrome app, which is a little odd, but there’s nothing stopping you from typing Gmail.com in the address bar. Docs and Calendar are also going offline. Starting today they’ll be rolled out to users over the next week. To activate it you’ll have to look under settings for an offline tick box. For now Docs will be view only when offline, but Google promises editing is coming soon. Hit up the more coverage link to install Offline Gmail now.

Gmail, Google Docs and Calendar finally regain offline access originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Netgear’s WNDR 3800 with ReadySHARE, the roll-your-own cloud service

Netgear’s WNDR 3800 with ReadySHARE, the roll-your-own cloud service originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has been slower than Sony to jump on the 3D gaming bandwagon — not surprising considering it isn’t the one desperately pushing the televisions needed to experience them — but today the company confirmed rumors that Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be playable in 3D. Joystiq experienced a demo at Gamescom in Germany, and reports that it only works with the game’s updated graphics mode, and that the game’s producer claims the framerate will stay consistent even in 3D. While there are already a number of Xbox 360 games that support 3DTVs, this is the first one we’ve heard developed by Microsoft, although Epic revealed earlier this month that the Microsoft-produced Gears of War 3 will support 3D. that’s good news for gamers that have made the extra dimensional jump already, while those of us playing in 2D can hopefully still see performance improvements, especially while playing co-op — we always bring a wingman / shoulder to cry on for The Flood.

Microsoft confirms 3D support in Halo: CE remake for Xbox 360 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Aug 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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