QinetiQ just (unofficially) smashed the record for an unmanned flight by a solar airplane, sending its Zephyr craft into the air for a staggering 83 hours and 37 minutes, more than double the official record by "Global Hawk" in 2001, and a good margin more than its last flight. The plane was guided by autopilot and satellites to a height of 60,000 feet, and powers off the sun during the day, prepping its rechargeable lithium-sulphur batteries for the night. Zephyr is being built for reconnaissance, communications and unofficially setting really bad-ass flight records.

[Via USA TODAY]

According to a BBC report today, a UK defense firm called Qinetiq has developed and tested a lightweight, solar-powered plane which has just broken the world record for longest unmanned flight. The plane, known as the Zephyr, spent 54 hours in flight using only self-recharging solar power, thus breaking the 30-plus-hour flight of the previous record holder, the US Air Force's Global Hawk surveillance craft. Although the record has been smashed, the plane won't be eligible for entrance into the "official" record books due to a late announcement of the feat, though another 33-hour flight might make the cut. The plane -- which has a wingspan of 59-feet -- is controlled from the ground after a hand liftoff, and is capable of cruising at 58,000 feet. According to the designers, the Zephyr is, "Going to go a lot higher and a lot further," and added that, "You ain't seen nothing yet." Indeed, ICEMAN, indeed.

Well it appears that despite all of our wishing, hoping, and positive-thinking exercises, Microsoft has failed to deliver on a small dream of ours, namely, 65nm chips for the new HDMI-rocking Xbox 360 Premiums. Despite signs pointing otherwise, new photos show that this batch of systems continue to carry the Zephyr motherboard layout, which uses the older, hotter 90nm chips, though the boys in Redmond have addressed the heat issue a little bit with the addition of a second "daughter" heatsink attached to the CPU by heatpipe. The new 65nm "Falcon" boards -- which chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) confirmed are in production -- are still on their way according to the rumor mill, slated for release sometime this Fall. Interestingly, Microsoft and TSMC have just laid plans to produce the Xbox's graphics-memory subsystem using the chip manufacturer's 90nm embedded DRAM spec. We won't speculate on when we'll start seeing that addition appear, however.

Engadget pal and Xbox Live Director Of Programming Major Nelson has already snapped the first pics of the Xbox 360 Elite -- hey, better he than the rest of us taking more spy shots, right? At least these weren't done with a cameraphone, you know? Check 'em out, and hit up the Maj's site for the latest from Redmond game HQ.

We've confirmed with trusted sources that the black Xbox 360 is indeed coming (the image above is of the original 360 dev kit, FYI), and will be dubbed the Xbox 360 Elite. Here's what you need to know about it:

• The Elite will be limited quantities only; that may be as much or as little as a couple hundred thousand.
• The case, controller, and Live headset will all be black. It will have all new packaging.
• Elite will cost $479, and will be a 3rd SKU; it will be sold alongside Premium and Core packs.
• Eventually Elite hardware (in white plastics) will take the role of the Xbox Premium. That is to say, after the Elite is launched and sold out, future Xbox Premiums will have 120GB / HDMI.
• We do not yet know exactly when 120GB / HDMI will become the standard for Premium, but it is loosely estimated to be late summer or fall.
• Elite models run cooler than normal 360s, but they are not yet confirmed to have 65nm chips.
• Prices may remain the same with the 120GB / HDMI hardware upgrade in the Premium Xbox, but we may still see a price cut on the line when 65nm chips start shipping.
• The HD DVD drive will not be internal or bundled -- Microsoft never did or nor does not currently have plans to put an HD DVD drive in the 360.
• There are no current plans to integrate WiFi into the Elite or future Premiums (although that can always change).

Although soldiers of the future (the non-robotic variety, that is) could very well rock tactile displays on their gear, it looks like the next-generation clothing worn on the battlefield could also monitor physiological information. New Zealand firm Zephyr has developed smart textiles that are currently being shown at CeBIT, and aside from being used by the US Department of Defense to "gauge how individuals cope and react during combat situations," the garb could also be used by athletes looking to carefully measure their vitals and improve their performance. The outfit's first two offerings, a chest-worn bioharness and a shoe pod insert, are both laden with intelligent sensors that can "store and broadcast data," which could certainly become beneficial in the health, security, training, and medical markets. It's been a good run, Nike+iPod, but it looks like you've been lapped.

Alright, so you've had due time to squabble over Microsoft's reasoning for apparently readying an Xbox 360 v2 -- supposedly prepared with a 65-nanometer CPU, 120GB hard drive, and an 1080p-pumpin' HDMI port -- and now XboxScene has dug up photos of what appears to be a prototype board sporting the coveted new HDMI port as well as a new "HANA" scaler. The materials on the PCB certainly seem to match up with what we saw yesterday, and moreover, the direct comparison shot between the current model's (presumably analog only) "ANA" scaler and the forthcoming version's "HANA" model adds a bit more consistency to the whole story. Indeed, if the current machine's scaler can't even output digital 1080p signals, it certainly helps to explain the missing HDMI cable that one would've thought went hand-in-hand with all this HD DVD hoopla Microsoft has got itself into. So be sure and hit the read link for a few more high-res shots, and click on through for the YouTube proof -- oh yes, there's a video.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Ever wonder why Microsoft hasn't released an HDMI cable for the Xbox 360, or whether the AV port was really capable of digital out? Well, here's your answer: we landed pictures of what appears to be the second Xbox 360 -- the Xbox 360 v2, if you will -- codenamed Zephyr. (The original Xbox 360, if you recall, was codenamed Xenon.) The long rumored about and awaited update to the console won't just feature a new, cooler 65nm processor, it's also finally added an HDMI port for full digital 1080p pleasure, as well as a 120GB drive, just what the doctor ordered. The 120GB drive may or may not come bundled with the kit, we don't yet know, just as we also don't yet know how much a Zephyr 360 is going to run (we imagine it'll go for the same price as currently so they can keep up a little on their expanding margin). But our very kind Xbox insider seemed happy to let us know we'd be able to get them "soon."