That's right everyone -- it's the Engadget Podcast. If you're down with gadgets, chatting, and just kicking it ill, you're in the right place. Hear your friends Josh, Paul, and Nilay discuss the week in technology, and expound on their belief that the P.U.M.A. is a dangerous rickshaw, Acer has stepped up to the netbook plate in a big way, and Microsoft might not be totally on the level with its new ads. Ready to get the blood boiling? Dip your toes into the jacuzzi of chat that is the podcast, and enjoy!

Note: There appears to be some very weird timing issues going on with our audio in this installment. If it seems like we're talking over each other more than normal, don't be too alarmed. We're looking into it now.

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Producer: Trent Wolbe
Song: Back In Black

01:40 - Engadget's wild ride in the P.U.M.A.
15:35 - Peapod the friendly Neighborhood Electric Vehicle in the flesh
24:40 - Acer launches first NVIDIA Ion-based nettop: AspireRevo
35:15 - Acer announces Aspire Timeline thin'n'lights -- $699 to $899
46:15 - Microsoft's second Laptop Hunters commercial: Giampaulo buys an HP HDX

Subscribe to the podcast

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).
[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.
[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.
[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace

Download the podcast

LISTEN (MP3)
LISTEN (AAC)
LISTEN (OGG)

Contact the podcast

1-888-ENGADGET or podcast (at) engadget (dot) com.

Against all odds, GM and Segway let us inside their precious P.U.M.A. prototype, and we went for a quick jaunt down 18th St. We couldn't drive it, unfortunately, but there was plenty of action to be had from the passenger side. Starting from a rest on four wheels -- the main powered wheels and the front two "safety" wheels; we never touched the back two to the ground -- the contraption shoves itself up onto two wheels quite gracefully, with the passenger compartment moving slightly independently from the wheelbase and floor. It was a bit odd, but not at all unpleasant, and we were soon zipping down the road. Since the P.U.M.A. is self-balancing, we felt way less force when accelerating and decelerating than we would in a car, since our body was being "leaned" into it instead of pulled along. Turning on a dime is quite fun as well, and we could see this thing making itself quite at home on city streets. While it remains to be seen if GM and Segway can commercialize this in time, and for the right price, we're fairly enamored -- at least it's something different, and it's already twice as interesting as Segway ever managed to be.

Camera work and moral support courtesy of Autoblog Green's Sebastian Blanco.

We just lived, breathed and experienced GM and Segway's joint press conference, where they "unveiled" the P.U.M.A. one more time for effect. Larry Burns and Jim Norrod from GM and Segway, respectively, talked up what they each brought to the table, and described the vehicle's inception as a partnership.

Segway obviously brought the two-wheel mojo, and seems responsible for most of what's being shown at the moment. As opposed to the Segway's tilt-and-cringe system of navigation, the P.U.M.A. has a more regular steering wheel, but while they're currently demonstrating it with Segway-style acceleration, they plan on swapping that for "Nintendo-style" buttons behind the wheel for acceleration and braking. For GM's part, they plan to integrate its "connected vehicles" technologies to improve safety and efficiency -- and we might not see P.U.M.A. on the road until they can pull it off. The car will not only communicate with other cars and with GPS, but will sense and stop for pedestrians. They plan to show a connected version that will be available for test drives by Real Actual Humans this coming fall, and then next year will come the scariest of all unveilings: GM styling. Right now this is just a chassis, GM plans on slapping on all sorts of "fashionable" candy shells, and if the incredibly unrealistic and "futuristic" renders we saw are any indication (see the gallery below), we'd really rather do without.

The biggest obstacle to commercialization, however, is the lack of infrastructure: P.U.M.A. in its current incarnation is designed for for bike lanes, and the first cities to get it will be ones with existing, comprehensive bike lanes -- not as much of an obstacle in Europe, but quite the stretch for most American cities. Still, the mathematics are quite alluring, with a 35 mile range at 35 mph for a 35 cent charge -- even us mouth-breathing Statesiders can understand that.

Update: We added a video after the break, along with a couple outdoor shots in the gallery. The thing really does look and operate like a two-person, sit-down, Woz-free Segway. You have been warned.

GM and Segway's joint venture is probably best described as a rickshaw without all the charm. The self-balancing Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility Project (P.U.M.A.) can reach top speeds of 35 MPH, has a lithium battery that lasts up to 35 miles with a single charge, and features vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication for potentially reducing the number of accidents. No word on when or if this'll actually go into production but it's expected to be priced at just 25% that of a regular automobile. Hit up the read link for more pics, including a concept model that's just a teensy bit more reasonable. We'll be at the launch event tomorrow to see it for ourselves and make sure it's not all some bizarre dream.

HP is adding to its Pavilion Puma-based offerings with the dv7z, a 17-inch version of the AMD-centric laptops. The new model features a variety of configurations, starting with an Athlon X2 dual core CPU (1.9GHz up to 2.2GHz), up to 4GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon HD 3200 or 3450 graphics chipset, storage options from 160GB to 500GB, and a vast array of screen resolutions, optical drives, and networking add-ons. The systems start at $949.99, and are available for customization and ordering right now.

[Via Computer Monger]

It's safe to say the flood gates are officially open, as just a fortnight after HP's Pavilion tx2500z tablet got upgraded with Puma-based innards, along comes the Pavilion dv5z series to join the fold. Available for ordering right now at HP's website, users can grab one of these lappies with an AMD Athlon / Turion X2 (Ultra) dual-core processor, a 15.4-inch panel, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, ATI's Radeon HD 3200 / HD 3450 graphics, integrated WiFi / Bluetooth, up to 320GB of hard drive space and your choice of a DVD burner or Blu-ray drive. For the full list of specifications and to get one of these headed your way, head southwest to the read link and be prepared to hand over a bare minimum of $699.99.

[Via Laptoping, thanks Danijel]

For those of you looking to get into HP's Pavilion tx2500z Puma-based tablet PC, the time has come. This "echo" inlaid-design ultraportable sports a 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 swivel touch screen with handwriting capture, AMD Turion Dual-Core processor, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics chipset, and WiFi. Other features of note include a fingerprint reader, webcam, 5-in-1 media card reader, and 3 USB ports. Unfortunately -- and we think this should be a standard on subnotebooks starting yesterday -- no built-in broadband wireless. That said, you can add a Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard during customization checkout. The base configuration will run you a somewhat reasonable $1,049. Go to it, tablet scribblers!

[Via Computermonger]

Packard Bell unleashed a big ol' set of machines in Italy today. Among the new laptops, the EasyNote RS65 13.3-incher cued some unusual design elements like red and chrome highlights and circular touchpad. It packs an Intel Centrino 2 and dedicated video card with DVI and HDMI. Other machines include the multimedia-friend ML (15.4-inch) and SL (17-inch) based on the Puma platform. Also of note are the MT (15.4-inch) and ST (17-inch) laptops, which include a "Battery Boost" button that allows you to switch between dedicated video and integrated Intel GMA chipsets in order to conserve unwired time. Finally, the TN line (pictured above) is set to appeal to a younger audience with low prices and multimedia features. In the desktop category, Packard Bell intro'd new i-Media, family-Extreme, and i-Max machines that run the gamut from diminutive budget boxes to gamer-friendly powerhouses. Peep the read link (in Italian) to get a deeper scoop.

Sure, checking out the benchmarks on the Puma-based Satellite A305 is all fine and dandy, but we just know you're craving more. Right? Good. Here we have a solid foursome of AMD Puma-packed notebooks, each one from a different walk of life. As expected, details were pretty limited at the kiosk, but at least it gives us hope that these machines (or something similar) should be hitting store shelves in the not-too-terribly-distant future. Go on down to the read link to check out the spruced up HP 6535us, unnamed Toshiba, Acer TravelMate 5530 and one other shy guy that managed to keep hidden.

Well, would you look at this? Toshiba's Puma-equipped Satellite A305 hasn't even left the floor of Computex and it has already been benchmarked. Kudos to NotebookReview for snagging some quality hands-on / testing time with the 15.4-incher, which came stocked with a 2.1GHz CPU, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 320GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD writer, 1.3-megapixel camera and Windows Vista Home Premium. You know you can't wait for all the dirty details and pics to boot, so head on down to the read link and save yourself a trip to Taipei.

[Thanks, Kevin]

While you won't fine a "Puma" sticker anywhere at Computex, rest assured that AMD's latest laptop platform is now official. Instead you'll be looking for AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual-Core processors, the 780 chipset, and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3000-series graphics on the manufacturer's spec sheet. Come to think of it, a sticker on the 100 or so Puma laptops lined up from HP, Dell, Acer, Asus and others might be easier to spot when the new lappies hit the market as early as this week.

[Via PCWorld]

With Intel's Montevina platform (hopefully) on the way and AMD's claim that "over 100" laptops will launch with Puma, it's kind of surprising that we haven't seen even more pre-release info on machines due to ship with the new chips, but apparently ASUS is getting ready to hit us with some new gear at Computex. Based on the existing M51 and M70 lines, the M51VR will feature a 2.26GHz Penryn P8400 with 3MB of L2 cache on Montevina's 1.06GHz bus, while the M51VA and M70VM (pictured) will get 2.53GHz T9400s with 6MB of cache. ASUS should also be showing off the Puma-based F5Z and X50Z laptops with 1.9GHz AMD Athlon64 X2 QL-60 chips, 667MHz buses, ATI Mobility Radeon HD3200 graphics and 15.4-inch screens at Computex, so it'll be interesting to see how these bad boys do side-by-side.

[Thanks, Sergio]

Read - ASUS Montevina laptops
Read - ASUS Puma laptops

We were all excited to see Intel's Montevina-based Centrino 2 next month, but it looks like that was never meant to be. Citing problems with the chip's integrated graphics and issues with 802.11n certification, Intel has pushed its launch to July 14, with the complete line hitting streets in the first week of August. Says AMD, "Hi. We're AMD. We have a little chip called Puma, it has no integrated graphic issues, and it'll be available in June. How YOU doin'?"