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Cowboy upgrades its e-bike with a carbon belt and puncture-resistant tires
The Cowboy 3 comes with a new carbon belt, puncture-resistant tires and a lower gear ratio.
Tesla will manufacture Model 3 parts at the Gigafactory
Nevada governor Brian Sandoval has announced that Tesla will bring some of its manufacturing for the Model 3 across from California. At a speech outlining policy initiatives for the last two years of his term, Sandoval revealed that the car company will build electric motors and gearboxes in the state.
What's on your TV: 'Gilmore Girls,' '3%'
Need something to watch while you're huddled outside a big box store on Black Friday? Save the second episode of Amazon's The Grand Tour for your new 4K HDR TV (it's worth it), as Netflix has some nice options this week. Gilmore Girls fans have its resurrected short series to look forward to, but we're focusing on Netflix's new Brazilian sci-fi series 3%. The show depicts a near-future where a select few are able to experience life in a privileged society -- after making their way through an intense competition. Also, BBC America is premiering Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks, the animated revival of a "lost" episode from 50 years ago. Gamers can return to The Division for its delayed second round of DLC, or check out an NBA 2K VR experience. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Google wants no-cost international roaming for its phone service
Google may not have grand ambitions for its upcoming cellular network, but the company could still have a few clever tricks up its sleeve. The Telegraph claims that Google is talking to wireless giant Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of Three (and soon O2), about letting American customers roam at no extra cost on the foreign carrier's networks. In other words, you could go on Instagram photo tours of places like Hong Kong or the UK without facing an outrageous phone bill when you get home. Neither of the companies are commenting, but Hutchison Whampoa would be a very logical partner. It already lets its customers roam in other countries (including the US) as if they were at home -- in a way, a Google deal would simply be returning the favor.
UK carrier Three scraps unlimited tethering for new customers
With one hand, Three gave its subscribers a free upgrade to LTE. (Cheers, me-dears.) But with the other hand, it has apparently taken away one of the key benefits of its popular "One Plan" tariff: namely, unlimited tethering. According to Wired UK, new customers will only be able to choose from plans that offer a maximum of 2GB of tethered data -- something we're currently trying to confirm with Three's PR reps (not least because the company's site has suddenly gone down for "maintenance"). On the plus side, the network will reportedly still offer all-you-can-eat data for non-tethering purposes, if you can find a way to consume all of that allowance without the help of your laptop, and there are rumors it has also decided to make 0800 calls free from your mobile -- presumably in order to give news articles like this one a vaguely happy ending. Update: It's confirmed. Three has updated its tariffs so that now, only its highest paying customers will get unlimited mobile data. However, tethering is being widened to cover more users, but with the downside that you're getting a smaller allowance as a consequence. For instance, users on the highest tier will only be able to use 2GB of personal hotspot data before being asked to buy additional 1GB units.
Three UK switches on its 4G network, gives users free calls, text and data in the US
If you're an iPhone owner on the Three network in the UK, you're about to get a double helping of good news. First, Three has quietly begun switching on its 4G network in select locations in the UK as of yesterday. The company is expected to officially make the announcement of its 4G activation today, stating that it will begin the first mass rollout of its 4G network in London. Best of all, if you already have a Three plan, you'll be bumped up to Three's 4G plan at no extra cost. Meanwhile, Three has announced plans to add America to its "Feel At Home" roaming initiative. Feel At Home lets customers use their minutes, texts and data (even unlimited data) for absolutely no charge while outside of the UK. Previously, Feel At Home was only available in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. By adding the US, Three is sure to make many customers happy during the travel-heavy holiday season.
3's data network dies, UK iPhone owners left without 3G
Last night I was walking my dog and I went to check my iPhone and noticed I didn't have a 3G signal. Sadly, this was nothing new since I am on UK network 3. I chose the network because they have unlimited data sim-only plans, but I soon discovered it's hard to get a signal a lot of times -- especially when I'm indoors. Still, being on the heath last night and not having a data signal at all was odd -- even for 3. But this morning I found out what happened: most of their data network went down and most of it remains down at this time. As Sky News reports, 3 has confirmed the data outage problems, which they are calling "intermittent." A 3 spokesperson said, "Some of our customers are unable to access the internet. We are working to restore their data services as soon as possible. We apologize to all those affected for any inconvenience." Currently the company is saying the data services will be restored via a phased response, meaning some users will get their 3G data back before others. As of the time of this writing my 3G data is still down and so is the 3G data of several of my friends who have 3's service for their iPhones. Meanwhile, during the downtime, I think I'm going to look for a new service provider. For those readers in London please let me know in the comments what carrier you use for data and how you find their coverage both outdoors and indoors.
Lichborne: Final notes on patch 5.3 and a legendary shortcut
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. By the time you read this, patch 5.3 should be on live servers. We've already written a couple columns on what patch 5.3 will mean for death knights, but as always, things change on the PTR. With that in mind, this week we'll take a final look at patch 5.3 for death knights and what you can expect and do once the servers are back up (if they aren't already). I also have a couple notes on completing Wrathion's legendary quest line for death knights.
Patch 5.3 PTR: The Kor'kron are taking over
Wowhead posted a short recap of this recently, and of course we had to go and check it out. The Kor'kron, for those who aren't aware, are effectively the Horde Warchief's bodyguards, his secret police, only, they're not so secret these days. Our lore experts clarified for me that, although they're now loyal to Garrosh, they were brought in by Thrall, to keep the Warchief free to do his chiefly things. And now, presumably at Garrosh's behest, they're branching out into invading territories all over Kalimdor. On the PTR, currently at least, the Kor'kron are at their most active in the Northern and Southern Barrens. There, you can find settlements, like the ones pictured above, along with a host of other Kor'kron incursions into this once relatively peaceful area. There are elite mobs, marked on the map by red crosses, which need at least three people to take down, and apparently drop Latent Kor'kron items. At this point, the elites don't seem to tap to anyone, as far as the loot goes at least, but there's also the distinct possibility that I've just been unlucky. You can also have a blast just killing the Kor'kron, although they rarely drop anything at all, let alone anything of use. There are Kor'kron Motivators and other elite mobs within the camps on occasion, too, who drop high quality items. But for me, the most exciting part of the Kor'kron invasion of the Barrens is the caravans.
Sony Xperia U goes on sale at Three UK
We've been twiddling our thumbs waiting patiently for the littlest of Sony's new-look smartphone lineup, the Xperia U, to arrive in earnest. It's a bit of a relief then to see the Android 2.3 phone go on sale at Three UK. You'll be getting what we saw back in Barcelona, including Sony's Timescape interface and the trick color light-up strip. We're guessing that most will see the cheap-as-chips price as the real selling point: the Xperia U costs £170 ($269) without a plan, and it's free as in beer on a two-year contract for £23 ($36) per month. O2, Orange and T-Mobile will expand UK carrier choices soon, but if you're looking for a fresh entry point into Android, Three can take care of you today.
Nokia Maps Suite 2.0 rolls out to Symbian devices, breaks free from beta chains
Symbian users haven't seen any shortage of love come their way in 2012. Just look to the 808 PureView for proof of that platform's staying power. Now, Nokia's doling out even more good news, dropping the beta tag from its Maps Suite 2.0 and officially rolling out that software to ^3, Anna and Belle handsets. For those unfamiliar with this bundle of location services, it's primarily a tidy integration of Espoo's Maps, Drive and Transport apps sewn into one, with tailored icons, enhanced UI customization, voice search and photo-tagging. Interested parties can get to downloading the currently available refresh via an OTA update on their phones now. And while you wait for that lengthy install, check out the source link below for additional shots of the packaged goods.
The Light and How to Swing It: Evaluating Holy Radiance's fifth tick
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Every Sunday, Chase Christian invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. Feel free to email me with any questions you want answered, like why paladins are so awesome. I made a lot of sacrifices to hit the 3,500 haste break point, which grants our Holy Radiance spell a free fifth tick. The truth is that the extra tick wasn't free, and it came at a great cost. The question in my mind was whether or not the cost was worth the benefit, whether or not the fifth tick made up for the losses in other areas. Holy Radiance is a pretty important spell in our arsenal right now, and haste is good generally, and so I figured there was at least a chance that the fifth tick could prove valuable. I knew I was making sacrifices to get to that haste plateau, but I had no a priori way to quantify exactly how that would affect my overall healing. I just went for it. After last week's full clear of Dragon Soul with my 3,500 haste build, I now have data to parse. I started matching encounters and parts of encounters in apples-to-apples comparisons using CompareBot to evaluate my performance. The results of my experimentation with a 3,500 haste build had me quite intrigued.
Samsung's new SD cards look too good to hide inside a DSLR
We've never been too fussed with how our storage looks -- it's rare that our SD cards linger too long outside the camera anyway. However, for you genius-level aesthetes who demand your internals are as beautiful as your externals, Samsung's got your back. It's releasing a line of SD and microSD cards with a stylish brushed metal body in silver or black that, frankly, looks shinier than whatever they'll be nestled inside. Just like Ryan Gosling, the cards are both pretty and pretty tough -- able to withstand 24 hours in water, 3,200 pounds of pressure or being left in an MRI machine with a power of 10,000 gauss, which we're always doing. After the interval, we've got pricing and stats for each unit (speed improves greatly if you plump for a 4GB card or higher) plus a little PR paperwork.
Three brings 3LiveShop to Denmark, offers webcam chat and heads-up product display (video)
Well, it appears that Three's call center agents in Denmark won't be able to wear pajamas into work anymore. Following the introduction of 3LiveShop in Sweden, the mobile carrier's other Scandinavian group is introducing this rather novel way of shopping for new phones to Danes. Properly situated consumers may now elect to participate in live video chats with Three employees, who manipulate product photos and information on a heads-up display for customer convenience. (We'd like to imagine this nice lady has placed the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4 into the "maybe" pile.) Thankfully, shoppers won't have to look presentable at all, as participating in two-way video conferences is entirely optional -- along with more traditional voice and chat methods. If you're curious to see a demo of the system in action, just check the video after the break. [Thanks, Jonas]
Android Gingerbread has growth spurt, grabs 38.2 percent device share
Gingerbread has apparently made a substantial mark on Android users, with new figures showing it holds a 38.2 percent share of all Google OS-powered devices. That's some kind of growth from the one percent sliver it held earlier this year. Froyo still remains dominant at 45.3 percent, but fragmentation continues to shrink, with 95.7 percent of all Google-coated devices now running Android 2.1 or above. These figures, taken from Android Market statistics over the last two weeks, give a pretty good illustration of the gulf between Android smartphone and tablets, as well, with Honeycomb versions accounting for a meager 1.8 percent. But the tablet version will likely get a boost from Ice Cream Sandwich -- which, as we all know, is just around the corner.
Samsung announces three Wave handsets, dripping in Bada 2.0 and ChatON
It's shaping up to a be a busy IFA for Samsung. Barely 24 hours after announcing its new ChatON messaging client, the manufacturer is now gearing up to release a troika of new Bada 2.0-powered Wave handsets -- the Wave 3, Wave M and Wave Y -- set to make their debut this week in Berlin. Leading the pack is the Wave 3, which leaked earlier this week. Powered by a 1.4GHz processor, this little guy boasts a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, 3GB of memory (along with a 32GB microSD slot) and a five megapixel, auto-focus-enabled shooter. The Wave M, meanwhile, packs slightly less juice, with a 832MHz processor, a 3.65-inch WVGA screen and 150MB of onboard storage (with a 2GB inbox and 32GB microSD slot). Rounding out the collection is the Wave Y, with its 3.2-inch HVGA display, 832MHz engine and two megapixel camera. All three feature your usual smattering of WiFi / Bluetooth 3.0 capabilities and will ship with ChatON and Samsung's Social Hub baked into their DNA. No word yet on pricing or availability, but you can find out more in the full press release, after the break.
HTC Sensation confirmed for all UK carriers, ready for summer fiesta
As you've probably gathered from our HTC Sensation preview, Vodafone managed to nab a two-week head start (plus a cheeky premature leak) with this dual-core Android across Europe in mid-May. Unsurprisingly, fellow UK carriers were quick to announce that they'll also be picking up said phone afterwards. In fact, this time round all the big players are involved, with Everything Everywhere (Orange and T-Mobile UK) promising a June launch, Three mentioning a vague "summer" release, and O2 only saying it'll sell the Sensation at some point. Yes, you Brits better keep that kettle warm -- it'll be at least a few more weeks for you non-Vodafoners.
Nokia X7 with Symbian 'Anna' now official on Three UK (Updated)
So, it's official. The Nokia X7, unfit for a US launch, has finally found a home with Three in the UK. The heavily leaked stainless steel handset runs an updated Symbian^3 "Anna" (aka, PR2) OS that finally introduces a vastly improved browser and portrait QWERTY with split-view data entry among its 50 new enhancements. Rounding out the specs are an 8 megapixel cam with dual-LED flash, 4-inch OLED ClearBlack display, HD video recording, and 256MB RAM / 1GB ROM with an 8GB memory card tossed in the box. You'll find the press release, video, and more pic after the break. Update: Nokia tells us that the X7 features 720p video recording, and a 680MHz CPU -- presumably the same old (and we mean old) ARM 11 proc and found in the N8 and E7. Oh, and it's the same Broadcom BCM2727 GPU and 8 megapixel EDoF camera we reviewed in the E7. The X7 will be available in Q2 with a price set at €380 before taxes and subsidies. %Gallery-120918% [Thanks, Will B.]
3LiveShop woos you into phone contracts by touching your screen from the other side (video)
Feeling lonely? Got some Swedish kronor to burn? Now you can kill two birds with one stone thanks to Three's Scandinavian arm. Hold up, we're not talking about online dating here; but you could certainly start by buying a phone from 3LiveShop, which lets you interact virtually face to face with a human sales rep. Better yet, these folks are equipped with eccentric multitouch workstations (pictured after the break) to let them drag phones and spec sheets around your screen. We had a go on this service just now and apart from a couple of hiccups later on, our Hong Kong-to-Sweden call was surprisingly fluid and fun. Sadly, we didn't get around to filming our intimate conversation with Adam here, but you can watch a promotion video by B-Reel -- the folks behind the touchscreen's Flash interface -- after the break to see how it works. [Thanks, Johan]
HP Pre 3: 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU, 3.6-inch WVGA, coming this summer (video)
The first Pre breathed new life into Palm. The Pre 2, on the other hand, didn't exactly have the same luster and longevity. Here's to a decidedly Palm-less round three. The QWERTY slider with the all-too-familiar form factor has a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display (a marked improvement over past Pres), 5 megapixel camera with AF and LED flash, 720p HD video, a front-facing camera for video calling, mobile hotspot, and webOS 2.2. Under the hood? A Qualcomm MSM 8x55 CPU running at 1.4GHz (!), 802.11a/b/g/n 5GHz, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, a 1230 mAh battery, HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A -- yep, it's a world phone -- and the same RAM as the Pre 2 (that's 512MB DRAM). It'll be Touchstone compatible, naturally, and will switch to Exhibition mode when docked to show pictures and upcoming appointments. There's some interesting synergy going on where the TouchPad tablet can take Pre 3's phone calls, and just touching the two devices together will let you share URLs (aptly titled touch-to-share). This one's gonna keep you waiting, though -- availability is this summer with both 8GB and 16GB storage options. Update: HP Pre 3 first hands-on! | Palm Pre 2 vs. HP Pre 3: what's changed? %Gallery-116083% %Gallery-116094% For more on all of HP's webOS announcements today, click here!
