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Boring Company's underground Loop now runs to the Las Vegas Strip
the Boring Company and Resorts World Las Vegas have announced the official opening of the latest Loop station at Las Vegas Convention Center.
Why Elon Musk's first Loop is, and isn't, as silly as you think
The Loop here is designed to solve a specific problem.
Musk's Las Vegas tunnel plans are worrying Monorail officials
Planning documents, obtained by TechCrunch, are revealing much about how Elon Musk's proposed Las Vegas loop would work. The Boring Company is charged with building three tunnels: one for pedestrians and two for passenger "sleds," stretching across the Las Vegas Convention Center Campus. The two vehicle tunnels will be filled with a fleet of autonomous Tesla-based EVs that can carry up to 16 people at a time.
Adidas made a running shoe that's fully recyclable
As part of its recent pledge to only use recycled plastics by 2024, Adidas has revealed a new running shoe that is made from 100 percent recyclable materials. The Futurecraft Loop was designed using nothing but thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), a plastic material that dons the entire sneaker, including the tongue, laces, upper and the midsole with Boost cushioning technology. Adidas says it has been working on this project for the past six years, and the goal with it is to do its part in generating less plastic waste.
'Zero-waste' Loop delivers Coke and Häagen-Dazs in reusable packaging
A lineup of the world's biggest consumer brands are joining a zero-waste online shopping project that delivers items in refillable and reusable containers. Loop -- announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week -- is an online shopping platform that wants to save customers the hassle of recycling by adopting the age-old model of the milkman.
Elon Musk's Boring Company will build a high-speed link in Chicago
Elon Musk's tunneling and transportation startup, The Boring Company, has been selected to construct a high-speed link in Chicago. The route, called The Chicago Express Loop, will run between Terminals 1-3 of Chicago's O'Hare airport, and Block 37 in downtown Chicago. At least, that's the plan.
Elon Musk pitches 150 MPH rides in Boring Company tunnels for $1
Tonight at The Boring Company Information Session not all of the talk centered on flamethrowers. Elon Musk and project leader Steve Davis described many details of their visions for an underground network that could alleviate traffic problems in big cities. Musk said "we're not suggesting this to the exclusion of other approaches," but did take a moment to call out flying taxi solutions (like Uber Elevate) right off the bat due to danger and noise.
Elon Musk to offer free rides in his LA traffic-dodging tunnel
Elon Musk has posted a video of Boring Company's first nearly completed tunnel under Los Angeles, which heads towards LAX and has an extra entrance at the SpaceX Hawthorne HQ. The multi-company chief said the tunnel is almost done, pending regulatory approvals that will allow the Boring team to offer free rides to the public as soon as a few months from now. While people will eventually have to pay to ride Boring's electric pods, he said it will cost commuters even less than a bus ticket. If true, then the company's shuttles and tunnels could easily become the transportation method of choice.
Polar launches its very own smart scale
If you make fitness trackers, then you probably need to make weighing scales, or watch as Withings or Fitbit steals your customers away from you. It's a lesson that Polar now appreciates, and after a couple of years producing simple fitness trackers, it's turned up at CES with its first set of connected scales, Polar Balance. The firm describes the unit as a "weight management service," and promises that using it will help shift those pounds you gained during the holiday.
Instagram's Boomerang app lets you shoot 1-second video loops
Slowly but surely, the Instagram team is building a suite of apps to help you be more creative on its photo and video-sharing platform. Following Hyperlapse and Layout, we've now got Boomerang, an app for iOS and Android that lets you shoot one-second videos -- made from a burst of five photos -- that quickly play forwards and backwards. They're a little different to Vines and GIFs, given this "boomerang" effect means you'll see everything periodically in reverse -- presumably, it's this element which Instagram hopes will spark people's creativity. Like Hyperlapse and Layout, the app doesn't have a self-contained feed, so the idea is that you'll want to make these video snippets to share them on Facebook or Instagram. If enough people use it, these clips could diversify Instagram and make its feeds more interesting, pulling users away from rival apps like Snapchat.
Polar's new Loop activity tracker sends stats to more apps
If you've been mourning the demise of Nike's Fuelband and want a bare-bones activity tracker, then Polar's got your back. The fitness company is launching a second-generation Loop that retains much of the look and feel of the original with a sprinkling of new features. The most notable is probably the smart notifications and alarms that we've seen come to the company's other high-end wearables like the V800. The company isn't specific about what you'll be able to do, but we'd imagine vibrating call and text alerts will be included as part of the package. Then, there's the news that the Loop 2 will come with inactivity alerts, and will buzz you Jawbone Up-style, if it thinks you've been sat idle for too long.
Instagram introduces endlessly looping videos
When Vine introduced loop counts, it instantly replaced likes and shares to become the default metric to gauge the popularity of a video. Facebook has dabbled with a similar technique for auto-play videos in users' mobile Newsfeeds, but only now has it appeared on its other popular social network, Instagram. It comes in an update to the iOS app and across the web (expect Android to follow), ensuring that you'll automatically see your followers' 15 second (or less) videos over and over. Gone are pause buttons, replaced with the option to unmute videos that auto-play as you scroll down your feed.
Mix beats and loop vocals with Propellerhead's Take for iOS
If you saw Reggie Watts' musical set at Engadget Expand (don't worry, there's video after the break), then you probably noticed the table full of gear he needs to construct his loops. Propellerhead -- the Swedish software company behind Reason, not the electronica duo -- is hoping to lighten this load with Take, a creative vocal loop recorder that's being given away free to iPhone users. The interface is reasonably simple, offering you a wide variety of pre-made backing loops as well as three tracks that you can rap, sing or otherwise make noise on. It's tremendously easy to use, but it won't compensate for your lack of musical talent, which is why we won't be sharing our ham-fisted efforts with you.
Loop's mobile payment Fob now available online for iOS devices
When we were introduced to Loop in October, the mobile payments company was just launching its Kickstarter campaign. The idea was different than an NFC-based mobile payment service (such as Isis or Google Wallet): using a 3.5mm Fob attached to your phone, you can make purchases on almost any point-of-sale system that accepts credit cards. Fortunately, Loop has kept busy the last few months; not only was its crowdfunding campaign a success, it also secured plenty of additional financing on its own. Now that the Fob (shown above) has made its way to Kickstarter backers, interested buyers in the US finally get their chance to buy the $39 device and its corresponding iOS LoopWallet app, which serves as the hub for all of your credit, gift and loyalty cards. An Android version is still in the works and will be ready in April, and there's no word on when it'll reach other parts of the globe. Check out the video below for a closer look at how Loop works.
Daily Roundup: Apple iMac review, HP Chromebook 11 hands-on, Nest's Protect smoke detector and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Loop turns almost any point-of-sale system into a mobile payment machine (hands-on)
In a small shop on University Avenue in Palo Alto, mobile payments vet Will Graylin proudly points out the point-of-sale (POS) system sitting next to the register. "This is a 13-year-old Hypercom," Will explains, emphasizing its age and the lack of modern mobile payment options. Then, he does something we haven't seen before: he puts his iPhone next to the mag-stripe reader, taps a button on his screen and the transaction gets processed as if he'd physically swiped his card. Companies like Google, Isis and MasterCard (among others) are competing with each other to see who can establish an NFC-based mobile payments standard and build a strong enough ecosystem to support it, but Will -- along with co-founder George Wallner -- is approaching the highly competitive and nascent smartphone commerce market from an entirely new direction. The duo's new company, known as Loop, is debuting a new platform that will let you use your phone to make payments on nearly 90 percent of all POS systems in the country, even if they don't have any tech embedded inside that's capable of accepting contactless payments. Continue with us below to see a hands-on gallery and a deeper explanation of what exactly makes this possible.
Libratone's $500 Loop speaker wraps AirPlay, PlayDirect and DLNA in wool
Don't quite have the funds -- or room -- for the circular B&O Play A9 speaker ($2,700)? Libratone's new AirPlay and DLNA-equipped Loop might catch your eye. The $500 satellite dish-like rig packs two ribbon tweeters and a bass radiator, which together pump out enough volume for moderately sized rooms. While the Loop is tiny enough to sit on a nightstand, it also comes with a detachable wall mount. You can even connect devices to it via ad-hoc WiFi if you're away from an actual network, thanks to PlayDirect -- just like the Zipp. As with all Libratone speakers, the unit's sound characteristics are adjustable via a free app (Android and iOS) and the swappable wool speaker grille comes in a variety of colors ($50 each). The Loop is up for pre-order now in "Pepper Black, "Salty Grey" and "Raspberry Red" if you're interested enough to bring it full circle. It'll hit doorsteps and retailers by the end of the month.
Polar Loop wristband tracks activity, exercise and sleep alongside an iPhone app for $109
We've tested our fair share of activity trackers and Polar is now adding one more to the fray. That's not a Nike+ FuelBand you see, it's the Polar Loop: a wearable for your wrist that keep tabs on activity, exercise and sleep patterns. Touting the "first waterproof" gadget of this sort, the company says the device can discern between activity levels, with alerts and motivational feedback along the way. The Loop syncs to Apple smartphones via Bluetooth with its companion app, Polar Flow. Similar to Nike's wearable, Polar's offering displays goal info, calories burned, steps taken and the time on an LED display. If you're also after a heart rate monitor, the Loop can be combined with Polar's H6 or H7 heart rate sensors for that purpose when it arrives next month in black with a pink version set for release in 2014.
Wacom releases Bamboo Loop photo-sharing digital card app (video)
Wacom's Bamboo line of products have always been far more whimsical and user-friendly than the rest of its professional offerings, and it's taken that a step further today with the introduction of the Bamboo Loop digital card app for iOS. Essentially, the app lets you doctor up a photo with graphics and different styles to create a greeting card of sorts that you can ship off to a friend. If you're on the receiving end of the card, you can scribble on it and "loop" it back to the sender -- sort of like a digital version of passing notes back and forth in class. Of course, you're free to upload your cards to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Instagram too if you feel like sharing them with the world. The app itself is free, though you can cough up an extra $2 if you want to get additional style packs. It runs on iOS5 and higher, and you can download it from the iTunes store starting today. As for those on Android, hold tight, because Loop should be available to you as well pretty soon.
Beat Box table turns RFID tagging into beautiful music
RFID -- it's not just for creepy tracking anymore. Don't believe us? Check out this sweet table that turns RFID-tagged discs into music when dropped into one of four bowls. The discs are made from vinyl records, and each bowl has an RFID reader connected to an Arduino. Dropping a disc into a bowl triggers a drum, synth, guitar or bass loop. There's also an LED by each of the bowls to indicate which loop you'll be hearing. Video of the table in action, after the break.
