Controlled LTE trials have been going pretty well of late, but the first test "under everyday conditions" has just gone down in Germany. We're pleased to say that everything went off without a hitch, as a connection using the next-generation (4G) mobile communications standard was maintained while inside a moving car traveling at around 42mph. Aside from the thrill of not dropping in and out of Pidgin at random, experimenters were able to pull downloads of up to 170Mbps and upload at up to 50Mbps. According to Hamid Akhavan, head of T-Mobile, it will still be 2010 (at the very earliest) before any of its markets go live with LTE, but at least we're moving in the right direction, eh?

[Image courtesy of ChrisHarrison]

Sony Ericsson finally came clean with that September 30 launch date for the XPERIA X1 this morning, and now the carrier situation is starting to resolve itself -- as previously hinted, Vodafone will launch the sleek WinMo slider in the UK, and both Voda and O2 will have it in Germany. O2 UK hasn't confirmed anything yet, and we still haven't heard from any carriers in the third launch country of Sweden, but we'll keep you posted over on Engadget Mobile as soon as we hear anything.

Feel that heat, Touch Pro? That's right -- the Great QWERTY Smartphone War of 2008 is officially gearing up for kickoff now that Sony Ericsson has announced a firm date for the first handful of lucky countries to be scoop up the mighty XPERIA X1. Sweden, Germany, and the UK will be the inaugural launch sites come September 30, with no fewer than 32 more on tap in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America for the fourth quarter of the year. North America, China, Australia, and Russia are also listed as committed launch regions, though dates for those will be announced "in the coming months" -- scary verbiage considering that they weren't even willing to slap the Q4 label there. 2009's a long way off yet, and if there's a Touch Pro in front of us... well, let's just say that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, if you catch our drift.

While we new LG had a pair of DVR-packin' plasmas lined up, nothing was officially official until now. The 42- and 50-inch PG6900 plasmas were designed to hold up to 86-hours of programming (SD, we assume) on its 160GB of internal hard drive space, and the 8-day EPG should give you a pretty decent view of what's coming on in the near future. Additionally, you'll find a 30,000:1 contrast ratio, Energy Star compliance, a DVB-T tuner (plus an analog tuner), three HDMI 1.3 ports, 100Hz refresh rate and integrated speakers which are said to be "invisible." Look for these to pop up soon (at least in Europe) for $1,799 and up.

[Via Gizmag]

Come now, you didn't think we'd let something like IFA pass by without shipping a few editors off to Berlin did you? We're on the ground and taking names in the best ninja gear we could sew with $5 worth of felt and tin foil. But hey, it's not the costume that keeps you coming back, it's the content. So stay tuned.

Germany wanted $6.2 million in research subsidies back from Nokia, and in addition to the "tens of millions" that the company has already relinquished after the highly-disputed Bochum plant closing, it'll be coughing up another €1.3 million ($2.04 million) to hopefully close the door on the matter. Said payment will be addressed to North Rhine-Westphalia, which was quite angry after the handset maker decided to hack 2,300 jobs from Germany and relocate operations to Romania for "lower labor costs." The sum here is in addition to the €20 million "Growth for Bochum" foundation that the outfit started, but apparently that show of goodwill didn't really change the hearts of those already bitter.

[Via PhoneScoop, image courtesy of Reuters]

Alright, can someone help us out with a little primer on German law here? California-based sipgate offers up a VoIP client for the iPhone that -- for the moment, anyway -- requires a jailbroken handset to run. It goes about its business on WiFi airwaves, so from the carrier's perspective, no harm, no foul, right? Not so much. T-Mobile Germany takes issue with the app, claiming that it's enticing its iPhone users to jailbreak -- a violation of its contract terms. Furthermore, the contract disallows VoIP of any kind, WiFI or otherwise, which pretty much makes sipgate public enemy number one in T-Mob's eyes. They've gone ahead and sent out a nasty little cease 'n desist, which sipgate says it plans to fight all the way through the court system if that's how T-Mobile wants to roll; meanwhile, it's still providing service and says that "for the time being [its] users are safe." Fight the good fight, guys.

[Via TUAW]

Remember how when we launched Engadget Poland a couple weeks ago we said that we were just getting started rolling out new international versions of the site? Well, today we're announcing two exciting new Engadgets we've waited for years to get started: Korean and German! They're both in beta, so to speak, so try not to mind the sawdust as we work out the kinks. Big ups to Brian, Jason, Manfred, and everyone at our international teams that made these new sites possible. Oh, and if you're waiting for Engadget in your language of choice, don't worry, Korean and German aren't the last we'll be rolling out!

Read - Engadget Korea
Read - Engadget Germany

It's been a long, long time since we've heard from Germany's "Future Store" -- the ultra-futuristic German grocery store that might have sprung directly from the Sprawl trilogy -- but they've got a new feature we thought you might be interested in. Shoppers in the store can now use camera-equipped cellphones (i.e., cellphones) to snap pictures of item barcodes, and then download the information at the checkout when they're finished shopping. The system totals all of your purchases into one big, nasty barcode which you then scan and pony up cash (or cards, or fingerprints, or magical rainbow juice) for. It's unclear how to store handles shoppers who don't scan everything they've got in their cart, but if it's anything like our favorite books, it's not pretty.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

It's been a great week for space geeks, what with the Phoenix Lander doing its Mars sniffing and toilet drama at the space station. Meanwhile, over in Europe, EADS Astrium Space Transportation is showing off a manned version of its Automated Transfer Vehicle (also known as the Jules Verne). This space vehicle has already been used to bring equipment to the International Space Station, but new designs reveal that Germany, France, and Italy are on board to retrofit the vehicle with seats and touch screens for humans. There's just one little problem -- the Jules Verne can't return non-humans (let alone humans) to Earth safely yet. Astrium is hoping to get the stage flying by 2013 on top of the Ariane 5 rocket in time for the end of the American Space Shuttle program in 2010, when it would replace it as the largest-payload space transport.

It's been a tick since we've heard anything noteworthy on the e-passport front (that's probably a good thing, truth be told), but Samsung SDI and German security printer Bundesdruckerei are out to break the silence. The two have teamed up to demonstrate a passport that boasts a "slim and bendable" OLED color display within a "polycarbonate data page." Predictably, the aforementioned display can be used to "provide a raft of information including a video of the document holder." It's also noted that the units will be heat-resistant, enabling officials to laminate the cards and make them less susceptible to manipulation. Information about a potential release date wasn't divulged, but it sure sounds like this stuff is dangerously close to being ready for use.

Although Audi isn't aiming to beat Chevrolet to the punch with an electric whip, it does plan on joining the party a bit further down the road -- according to company bigwig Rupert Stadler, that is. Based on an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag, Mr. Stadler noted that he expected diesel and battery technology to dominate within five to ten years, and he made mention that "by then, [Audi] would offer cars without exhaust emissions." Curiously enough, he also stated that "electric cars offer opportunities, which [the company has] already seized on," but alas, he didn't elaborate beyond that. Just to confirm, we've got you, me and a whisper-quiet ride in five- to ten-years? It's a date.

[Via News]

As if we Earthlings didn't have enough to worry over with robots from every corner of the globe likely mounting a silent offensive to overtake our societies and claim ownership of our land, now we're faced with the startling realization that even our sporting events aren't safe from subterfuge. At the seventh annual RoboCup German Open, hordes of teams have descended upon the pitch in order to compete in robot-only soccer, er, football matchups. Quite honestly, everything seemed fine and dandy until we hit a quote from Stefan Kohlbrecher, a member of the Technical University of Darmstadt's Darmstadt Dribblers team: "The goal of the RoboCup is to compete against human world champions with robots by the year 2050." Funny, we'll supposedly be fornicating with androids by that same year. Cue Michael Stipe, please.

To be honest, JVC's P-Series LCD line may still hold the crown for most expensive iPod dock, but at least it comes with an expansive 1080p panel, right? Pushing aside a number of a worthy opponents on its charge to most absurd / unnecessary iPod dock evar, the iCoral supposedly features a top plate constructed from artificial coral and is proudly decorated with a "very artistic design" (Copulare's words, not ours). 'Round back, you'll find USB, S-Video and stereo analog outputs, but we're simply not seeing the slit in which your currency of choice comes out of at the press of a button. Due to that unfortunate omission, we're suggesting you hold tight to your €1,500 ($2,355) -- unless you're one David Beckham, of course.

[Via UberReview]

Oh sure, we've seen alleged criminals wriggle out from under the strong arm of the law, but this one takes things to an entirely different platform. Reportedly, a truck driver in Germany was pulled over for yapping on his cellphone while cruising, but apparently, said trucker actually wasn't talking when the boys in blue saw his handset upside his melon. As the story goes, the 43-year old was actually using the freshly recharged mobile to "warm his ear" in an attempt to alleviate an earache. Astonishingly enough, he was even able to provide "an itemized telephone bill proving he had not been using the phone at the time he was stopped," thus, a court in Hamm accepted the excuse and let him go sans penalty. Something tells us this guy's got friends in low places.

[Via Switched]