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Pioneer debuts new Sound Wing HVT speakers, novel tech touted within
There's a ton of gadgetry that goes into speakers, but the notable thing here is that the Pioneer folks have begun using HVT, or Horizontal-Vertical Transforming technology -- but more on that in sec. This beauty is engineered to reduce unwanted vibration and preserve bass caliber while outputting 100W of sound. Featuring a double diaphragm packaged close together, the Sound Wing gives off omnidirectional sound -- that's 360 degrees of noise. And thanks to HVT, the coils within the speaker have been rearranged to reduce the wasted space in traditional speakers -- though for some reason this particular unit still measures a portly 109mm thick. Seeing that the tech Pioneer has implemented here is novel, we're interested to see how this thing will sound in the real world. You'll find the Sound Wing in Japan for ¥41,000 (about $507) come June.
EVO 4G receives a Palm Pre inductive charging transplant (video)
Oh yes, an HTC EVO has been modded with the inductive charging coil ripped from the still beating heart of a Palm Pre. The 30 minute soldering project does have the side effect of rendering compass apps useless while creating a slight bulge in the battery cover. Other than that, it just works -- or so says the creator. See the modded EVO get busy with a Palm Touchstone and do what yours can't in the video after the break. [Thanks, Brody White]
Independent Games Festival audience award polls now open
Were you completely enraptured by a number of 2008's independent gaming offerings? Perhaps you were infatuated with Q-Games' PixelJunk Eden, or bowled over by the bizarre meiosis exhibited in Coil, or, much like us, you were strangely obsessed with the brilliantly minimalistic You Have to Burn the Rope. If you want to show that appreciation in a worthwhile manner, you might want to cast your vote in the recently opened polls of the Audience Award category for the 2009 Independent Games Festival, which will be held in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference later this month.Even if your favorite independent titles didn't make the list (or if your gaming habits stuck explicitly to big-budget blockbusters), most of the 15 finalists in the category are accompanied by their download links. Come for the exercise in democracy, stay for the free games!
Northrop Grumman's aircraft-mounted laser moves forward in testing
We're beginning to think the US government is playing tricks with our head. Let's see, in late 2004, a Boeing anti-missile airborne laser achieved first light; in October of 2006, a laser-equipped 747-400F was deemed ready for testing; in January of 2007, an MD-10 with Northrop Grumman's Guardian anti-missile system took off; now, we're back to the testing stage? Something doesn't add up. Whatever the case, we're being fed information that leads us to think that the US Air Force's Airborne Laser has moved on to some "other" stage of testing. More specifically, engineers are making sure its "sequencing and control" functions are operating normally. Unsurprisingly, we're left in the dark as to when this thing will see action (again?), but consider our interest piqued for a reason The Man didn't intend.
Magnetic space tube to help suck up lunar soil
Not sure if NASA has this on tap or not, but Benjamin Eimer and Lawrence Taylor of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville just invented a special magnetic collection tube that sucks up lunar soil so we can extract precious resources for use in future moon colonies. The tube, which is sort of like an elephant's trunk or one of those leaf suckers, would suck up lunar soil (not peanuts and leaves) containing water, oxygen and other resources to be extracted by astronauts. They'd need to gather and transport large amounts of the stuff without stirring up jagged moon shards and hazardous dust, so bulldozer-like equipment is definitely out of the question. The tube's coils would create a magnetic field that attracts the iron-laden soil, keeping it neatly centered to be distributed to storage facilities or processing plants via a pipeline system. Assuming the tube rules at collecting a massive supply, the soil can then be bagged to stack on top of lunar habitats to help regulate unpredictable temperatures and block radiation from hazardous space particles. Sweet! Once they hook us up with some sci-fi WiFi, we'll be reporting from Engadget's new intergalactic office. [Thanks, Matthew]
Please remove all jewelry: Nokia files metal detector patent
Here's a patent filing from the creative minds at Nokia that'll appeal to both the security industry and the paranoid among us. Apparently, with a little elbow grease, bubble gum, and duct tape, engineers have been able to take your standard induction coil used for hearing aid compatibility and give it the functionality of a close-range metal detector. At least, that was the intent of Nokia's patent filing back in 2004. Of course, we've seen enough phone patents come and go to know that the odds we'll see this in a shipping product any time soon are low, so in the meantime, keep your distance from knife-wielding baddies, m'kay?
