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Nawa's stylish e-motorbike uses an ultracapacitor to drastically boost range
A company called Nawa has unveiled an electric motorcycle with a racy hubless rear wheel and a lot more range than most other e-bikes. However, the one-off "Racer" prototype is actually designed to help the company show off what it really sells: ultracapacitors. Above the 9 kWh battery is a 0.1kWh ultracapacitor that can harvest 80 to 90 percent of the braking energy, much more than lithium-ion batteries alone can store. As such, it can go 300 km (186 miles), compared to 180 km (110 miles) for a bike with the same battery pack alone.
Airbus imagines a faster helicopter with wings
Airbus has showed off a new helicopter concept at the Paris Airshow that could give operators everything they want: speed, versatility and economy. The Racer (rapid and cost-effective rotorcraft) features a main rotor like a regular helicopter, but uses pusher propellers to accelerate it forward and a new "box-wing" system for extra lift. As a result, it'll power along at up to 400 km/h (250 mph) while being able to take off on a dime like a regular chopper.
Omate's smartwatch is the first to be assembled in Africa
When Omate announced its $99 Racer last month, little did we know that this rugged, near-circular smartwatch will be heading to Africa -- Congo, Ivory Coast and Cameroon to begin with -- this coming June. According to today's announcement, this is all thanks to Congolese mobile startup VMK, who is already leading efforts to boost local smartphone penetration with affordable devices. Better yet, VMK will also be assembling the Africa edition Racer (plus future mobile devices) at its upcoming factory in the Republic of Congo, so unless someone else beats VMK to the race, this will be the first smartwatch to be assembled in Africa. Omate CEO Laurent Le Pen expects to sell 50,000 units in that continent alone this year, followed by plans to manufacture the whole device locally next year.
Omate adds two new circular smartwatches to its affordable collection
Omate's well known for bringing stylish smartwatches to the mass market, as we've seen with last year's $129 X (pictured left) and $169 Lutetia (second from left). To kick off 2015, the company is leveraging the same MediaTek Aster chipset (MT2502) plus the Lutetia's near-circular, always-on color transflective touchscreen to bring out two new designs: the Panerai-inspired Roma (second from right), and the Racer which is the "sport-oriented alter ego" of its round siblings. As before, the two new models will function mainly as notification watches with basic activity tracking plus customizable watch face, so they should offer the same week-long battery life. For those who want to give the rugged Racer a spin (we have a 360-degree view of it after the break), Omate's website will be taking pre-orders for just $99 per unit between January 5th and 15th, and after that it'll be bumped up to $129 until January 31st, with shipments expected in as early as end of February. There's no info regarding the metallic Roma just yet, but Omate's new partnership with the Richline Group will be offering these watches in US and UK retailers -- including jewelry stores -- this March.
Weekend-long PSN Flash Sale discounts a pack of racers
Even if your weekend pace is relaxed and leisurely, you should still be able to reach the PlayStation Store's Flash Sale before it ends on September 22 at 3pm EST. You can make up for your slow-and-steady demeanor by setting lap records in this Flash Sale's racing-oriented deals, unless you prefer to destroy everything in sight in Burnout Crash. Pack leaders include Need for Speed: Most Wanted for $4.99 on PS3 and Vita, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for $9.99 on PS3 and Vita, Cel Damage HD for $2.49 on PS3, PS4 and Vita, Crazy Taxi for $2.49 on PS3, and GRID Autosport on PS3 for $12.49, among others. You can check the PlayStation Blog's complete breakdown of the sale's standings, or just round the corner as fast as possible and race straight into the deals. [Image: PlayStation]
Need for Speed: Shift dev's next game is PC racing MMO World of Speed
Slightly Mad Studios announced its new racing game today, World of Speed. The PC racer will be available this year as a free-to-play download published by My.com, with a closed beta program scheduled for the spring. The former Need for Speed: Shift and Shift 2: Unleashed developer described World of Speed as a "massively multiplayer online arcade racing video game," with players having access to an "endless garage of cars" to drive on tracks based in cities across the globe like London and San Francisco. World of Speed will feature team and club-based multiplayer racing along with objectives, missions and live events. [Image: Slightly Mad Studios]
Google's Roll It Chrome Experiment brings skee ball to your phone and browser
Google's continuing to romance the casual gaming world with the unveiling of Roll It, the company's latest Chrome Experiment. The title emulates that old boardwalk classic skee ball, utilizing your smartphone to aim and pitch the ball and the browser to emulate the familiar ring-sporting game alley. You can also play along with friends by sharing your handset, because there's nothing sadder in this world than solitary skee ball. Google's pitching Roll It, along with the recently announced Racer, as "a hint of what's possible when web experiences are designed for a multi-player (and multi-device) world." In the meantime, you can access the game at the source link below -- or just check out a demo video after the break.
Grid 2 gameplay trailer drifts through Japan
This gameplay video for Grid 2 shows a racer drifting around turns on a downhill course in Okutama, Tokyo in Japan. Grid 2 is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on May 28.
Eurocom Racer 2.0 laptop receives Ivy Bridge, offers Radeon HD 7970M graphics
Eurocom calls its Racer 2.0 a small form factor mobile workstation -- by which it means it's a rather sizable laptop, but with plenty of power and decent aesthetics. Known for designing its rigs to be upgradable, the Racer 2.0 is such a recipient, which now offers the Intel HM77 Express chipset and support for both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs. It offers a 15.6-inch, 1080p display (in both glossy and matte configurations), which is powered by a 1.5GB GeForce GTX 660M GPU as the basic option. Those desiring even more oomph may opt for the 2GB Radeon HD 7970M, and even those in need of true workstation graphics may select from a lineup of NVIDIA's Quadro GPUs. The four SO-DIMM slots will accommodate up to 32GB of RAM, and it'll even accept two hard drives (in addition to an mSATA SSD), so long as you're willing to fill the optical drive's slot. Naturally, all the upgrades can make the price soar in a hurry, but the base configuration starts at reasonably palatable $1283. Ready to be sold a new laptop? You'll find the PR after the break.
Brammo's 100MPH Empulse coming May 8th, spooks electrons with six-speed gearbox
By rights, Brammo's street-fighting Empulse should have gotten here quicker, but at least we now have a firm launch date. Sporting an all-new six-speed gearbox in place of the one-speed original, Brammo's spec sheet shows a 121-mile city range (or 56 miles on the highway), 100+ MPH maximum hustle and a re-juicing time of 3.5 hours in fast-charge mode. We're not sure if the price has budged from the original $14,000 estimate, but if you want to see what that ballpark sum might get you, the video after the break is all yours.
Ridge Racer Vita moved from launch day to 'launch window'
When a game publisher closes a door, they always open a window -- unless, of course, they're cancelling the game, in which case they always burn the whole house down. This idiom now applies directly to the release of Namco's Ridge Racer for the PS Vita which, according to the recently revealed PlayStation Blog line-up, has been pushed from the list of "launch day" releases to the list of "launch window" releases. What's that mean for the fate of the title? Well, it could still mean that it's coming to the states alongside the console on February 22, but that Namco Bandai is playing it safe with the new terminology. In all likelihood, however, it means the game's been delayed beyond the console's due date. We've contacted the publisher for a clarification.
Need for Speed World's Gamescom trailer has a lead foot
Does the revving of an engine make your knees weak? Do the sleek curves of a Porsche make your heart beat faster? Yeah, me neither. But if pretty cars going really fast happens to blow up your skirt, then we've got a present for you. Straight from Gamescom 2011, Need for Speed World is kicking it into high gear with an adrenaline-pumping new trailer. Fasten your seatbelts and hang on for your life as a Porsche 911 GT3 RS goes head-to-head with a Lamborghini Murcielago LP 640 (don't they just sound expensive?) in a frenetic race through Rockport. Of course, the other racer isn't the only hazard to your health in Need for Speed World; you also have to dodge and weave through incoming traffic and keep an eye out for the pesky five-o. For the full trailer, shift gears on past the cut.
Battery-powered 'Black Current' VW Beetle flaunts itself in drag (video)
Electric supercars have been hitting some crazy speeds recently, but this is on another level. The Black Current is a Volkswagen Beetle reborn as an electric drag racer. It hits 135mph and demolishes the quarter-mile straight in 9.51 seconds. What's more, it does it quietly -- all you can hear is the delicious screech of sticky rubber. Plug into the video after the break for a taste of what it's like behind the wheel. And can someone please explain why that other car on the left even bothered to turn up?
Fireburst trailer comes with a hot rock single
Sure, this trailer for the upcoming downloadable arcade racer Fireburst has some fun jumps and explosions in it. But if you're anything like us, that song is what caught your ears. That's Dayton, Ohio's Hawthorne Heights performing "Drive," which you can get for free on the game's website.
Sunswift IV, world's fastest solar-powered racer, leaves GM Sunraycer in its dust
The Sunswift IV (aka IVy) might look like a mobile dinner table, but it's actually the world's fastest solar-powered vehicle. The table-top on wheels got the official nod from the Guinness Book of World Records last week, for hitting a top speed of 88km/h (about 55 mph) -- nearly 10 km/h faster than the previous record-holder, the GM Sunraycer, which bears a striking resemblance to a disembodied Android monster. IVy, designed by Sunswift, a student-run non-profit at the University of New South Wales, reached its top speed using 1050 watts, about 400 watts less than the Sunraycer, and performed its record-smashing run without the 25kg battery it's usually packing. Faster runs have been clocked, including by IVy, but Guinness has not been on hand for confirmation.
ZTE Racer review
In a battlefield now abundant with Android handsets, there's only one easy way for a young smartphone brand to grab our attention: make a seriously dirt cheap handset. And we're not just talking about a free phone chained to a pricey 18-month contract (like the Vodafone 845); we're looking for a Pay & Go smartphone tagged with a standalone dumbphone price, so even the £200+ ($316+) "budget" HTC Wildfire and Sony Ericsson X10 Mini / Mini Pro are out of the question. This is where Three UK's ZTE Racer comes in: priced at just £99.99 ($158) or for free on various contracts, this Android 2.1 handset has quite rightly stolen the paper crown from the 845. But don't let that price tag fool you -- this 14.5mm-thick device still comes with a fairly modern 600MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset (as featured on the Aria and X10 Mini / Mini Pro), garnished with a 3.2 megapixel camera (sans flash), HSDPA 7.2Mbps connectivity, 2GB microSD card, FM radio, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and a Skype app for free Skype calls within the UK. There is just one caveat: you'll have to live with a 2.8-inch QVGA resistive touchscreen. So, is this an immediate deal-breaker? Can the other features make up for this flaw? Read on to find out.%Gallery-98528%
ModNation Racers receives Title Update 1.02 tomorrow
Tomorrow, ModNation Racers, uh, racers can download Title Update 1.02, which addresses long load times, squashes some bugs, improves server stability and adds a new "casual" difficulty level. The update will go live at 2:00 a.m. PDT and also brings with it a bunch of changes to the community site including race logs, tracking systems for monitoring your favorite creators (and their favorite creators), plus friend and rep search utilities, according to the PlayStation Blog. Speed demons looking to expand their roster of racers can also download Nukular and Kart this week, a new ride and driver who look like they just leapt out of Mad Max or something. All we can say is we'd definitely steer clear of the guy on the track with the huge plow on the front of his ride. Just saying!
Kinect Sports and Joy Ride previewed, in brief (video)
We've already gone a bit more in-depth with the likes of Kinect Adventures, Dance Galaxy, and Your Shape, but we also had a couple brief thoughts on Microsoft's motion-centric sports pack and cartoon racer. With Joy Ride, you'd think holding your arms out pantomiming steering would be burdensome, but in our time with Joy Ride, it really never became an issue. In fact, the one control aspect we were hesitant about going into the race -- power sliding -- turned out to be quite effortless. It made perfect sense tilting our bodies around sharp corners. It's during the windows where stunts were allowed that we discovered the full-bodied parallel to button mashing. Seriously, people were instinctively ducking jumping, twisting, and flailing hoping for some bonus points. As for Kinect Sports, Microsoft wasn't showing much of its track-and-field centered Kinect Sports title, but what we saw didn't fill us with confidence. The bowling game was particularly troubling, with numerous very random throws (that ended up in the gutter a lane over) and a very finicky depth-perception that wouldn't let us really wind up or step forward very effectively. Meanwhile, the 200 meter hurdles worked just fine, but it was also a pretty simplistic running-in-place experience that was possible a couple decades ago with the NES's Power Pad -- although Kinect makes it a lot harder to cheat. Miller vs. Miller video after the break. %Gallery-95217% %Gallery-95215%
Forza 3 'limited edition' content for sale, some proceeds go to Haiti relief
If you snatched up a used copy of Turn 10 Studios' two-million selling racer, Forza 3, you now have the chance to tune up the game with some new content from Xbox Live. There are four new packs available for purchase, each previously only available through new standard and limited editions of the game. Here's a rundown of each pack's specs: Sidewinder Proving Grounds Track Pack (400 / $5) -- This pack features 18 courses, including an updated version of the Sidewinder Proving Grounds from Forza Motorsport 2. Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack (400 / $5) -- A four-mile stretch of road to test your car's mettle, the Benchmark High Speed Ring Track Pack also features a large parking lot environment for online multiplayer games of "Tag" and "Keep It Clean." Motorsports Legends Car Pack (400 / $5) -- As suggested by the name, this pack features 10 of racing's most classic cars: 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA Stradale, 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage, 1981 BMW Motorsport M1, 1960 Chevrolet Corvette, 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Hemi, 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth, 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400, 1971 Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R, and the 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. VIP Membership Car Pack (800 / $10) -- This pack unlocks VIP status for your profile in Forza 3, giving you special recognition as a VIP on leaderboards, in multiplayer lobbies, on ForzaMotorsport.net, in the in-game storefront and places your auctions at the top of the Forza 3 auction house. It also unlocks five additional cards: 2008 Aston Martin DBS, 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, and the 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997). During the month of March, Turn 10 Studios will donate $10 for each download of the VIP Membership Car Pack (up to $100,000) to Save the Children. The proceeds will be donated to victims of the Haiti earthquakes.
Pure flips onto Games on Demand
Black Rock's stuntastic, straight out the plastic (NSFW) ATV racer Pure has vaulted onto the Games on Demand service. The price of admission into Pure's amusement park of big ramps and bigger air will set you back $19.99. Not sure if that's worth it. Check out the demo through Xbox Live. And, now that we're on the subject, could someone undo the supposed cancellation of Pure 2? Thanks! Shortcut: Add Pure to your download queue [Xbox.com]
