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Has James Bond gone green? Bulletproof electric roadster in the works
Warding off assassins while saving the environment just became a cake walk with the Jo-Mojo, an upcoming creation by Lativian armored vehicle company DARTZ. This two seat convertible roadster brandishes an 80 horsepower electric engine capable of pushing zero to 60 mph in 9.5 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph -- yet most of its "mojo" is outside the hood. Custom seating, color-changing chameleon paint finish, bulletproof tires, and others are just a few of the many "drooling" features. The sunroof is given a task with flexible solar panels built-in, good for juicing up the batteries while idle or on the go. Aimed to hit the market at the end of Q2 2012, its estimated price tag starts at 30,000 euros (~ $40,000), within range of most low-end luxury automobiles. Check past the break for a video slideshow of this snazzy piece of metal by Gray Designs, DARTZ's partner in the venture.
Samsung develops first chip for US mobile digital TV transmission, provides no release date
Mmm, nothing like a pinch of predictability to wake us in the morning. Just days after the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) finally announced that a North American mobile DTV standard was struck, Samsung has jumped in with what it's calling the planet's first single chip solution designed to handle those very transmissions. All we're told is that the solution combines RF and "digital chip components" into one 65 nanometer chip, making it ideal for smaller devices such as smartphones, car-mounted televisions and portable media players. Of course, Sammy doesn't even bother to mention a mass production date, so we're guessing we all just rise awkwardly and start a roaring slow clap to celebrate the accomplishment.
US Mobile DTV standard finally approved
Well freaking finally. The Advanced Television System Committee just approved the Mobile DTV standard, meaning we're finally about to see for-real mobile television in the US. LG and Samsung have already made gear for the new standard, and the tech will be demoed later today before a rollout... sometime. Still, it's heartening news to hear that it's finally ready -- over 800 stations are signed up to broadcast the new signal, which makes use of existing 6MHz airwaves to do everything from straight TV to video-on-demand and targeted advertising. Cool, so now we're what, just a billion years behind DVB adoption?
Washington DC announced as first MPH mobile TV market
In the 22 city-strong foot race to get a live MPH-based mobile TV network up, running, and available to anyone who wants it, it looks like Washington DC's poised to come out on top. Raleigh has already deployed a handful of transmitters for the benefit of bus-goers, but the Open Mobile Video Coalition has announced that Washington DC's local CBS, PBS, NBC, and Ion affiliates plus a Fox-owned independent will all be ready to roll with MPH transmissions by late summer; of course, what remains to be seen is what sort of hardware will be ready to take advantage of the tech by then. We can likely count AT&T and Verizon out for offering MPH-enabled handsets seeing how they're still trying to figure out how to profit from their MediaFLO-based networks, so T-Mobile and Sprint's decisions to take a wait-and-see approach to the mobile TV phenomenon may really end up working in their favor here. Moving beyond the phones, it's said that Dell will be showing some sort of netbook this week with an integrated MPH tuner at the NAB show in Vegas this week, while Kenwood has in-car solutions in the works. As long as the broadcasts stay free -- which by all accounts they will -- the standard has a fighting chance at relevancy, assuming hardware comes to the table.
22 US cities on track to receive mobile DTV broadcasts this fall
The Open Mobile Video Coalition, which currently consists of around 800 local stations across America, has announced here at CES that 22 cities are scheduled to receive mobile DTV broadcasts by this fall. The announcement was joined by a number of manufacturers as they debuted prototype cellphones and in-car receivers, essentially giving hope that citizens of 22 US locales could soon be tuning into 24 while trucking home from a primetime grocery run. Details beyond that are pretty scant, as most hardware firms are still waiting for the broadcasts to go live (or get a lot closer to live) before committing development dollars to receivers. Carrier-driven video services never have taken off here in the Land of the Free, but the promise of mobile airings of the Big 4 just sounds entirely more enticing.[Via HDTVExperts]
ATSC gives initial thumbs-up to MPH mobile TV standard
Merely weeks after a handful of TV broadcasters voiced their approval of the MPH mobile TV standard, the almighty ATSC has elevated its specification for Mobile Digital Television to Candidate Standard status. Or it will early next week, based on the futuristic December 1st date on the press release. Anywho, the thumbs-up brings the standard one huge step closer to actual implementation in the United States, though a final standard isn't apt to be agreed upon until late next year. Not that the delay is really a problem -- after all, a grand total of 19 people in this great nation even care about TV on the go, right?[Via mocoNews]
TV broadcasters pleased with MPH mobile TV test results
The world needed another mobile TV standard about like it needs another hole in the ozone layer, but regardless of that, we've still got broadcasters backing MPH. We originally heard that said protocol was being tested by Raleigh's WRAL back in July, and since then, a whopping 800 local stations (which make up the Open Mobile Video Coalition) have joined in to work out the kinks. Currently, the general consensus is one of satisfaction, with the group now hoping to "prove the viability of the proposed system before the ATSC." If all goes well, a candidate standard will be ready to present next month, which "would keep handset manufacturers on schedule to have commercial devices available by the holiday 2009 shopping season." OMVC is also planning a multi-station demo at CES in January, so you can bet we'll be there giving it a run for its cheddar.[Via RCRWireless]
Raleigh, NC's WRAL testing MPH mobile DTV system
Although Raleigh, North Carolina is set to become one of the first DVB-SH test markets in America, WRAL is already testing out yet another standard. The station known nationwide for taking its local newscasts to the world of HD while everyone else sat and moped in their SD control rooms is currently teaming with CBC in order to test out the ATSC-compatible MPH mobile television transmission system. As we've seen before, the system enables "local broadcasters to deliver digital television to mobile devices including cellphones, laptops and personal media players," all while moving quickly in vehicles, hoverboards, rocket-powered scooters -- you name it. There's no word on what exactly will happen once the trials conclude, but we'll be keeping an ear to the ground just in case it's something big.[Via BroadcastingCable]
Video: LG MPH mobile television system hands-on
We'd been waiting to check out LG's new MPH North American mobile television system here at CES, and Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont has the skinny for us: like we'd heard, the system plugs into existing TV transmitters relatively easily, and LG says it's signed deals with over 800 broadcasters for launch in 2009 already. Check out the whole video after the break!
Video: Hands-on with LG's MPH mobile broadcast standard
In the wake of LG's press conference today we're still a little skeptical that the world needs yet another standard for mobile TV, but for what it's worth, the company appears to have signed up a variety of partners in an effort to push it -- and they certainly brought enough eye candy hardware with prototype MPH hardware already integrated. In the mix was a modified VX9400, an LG laptop, a portable media player, and a USB dongle, and with the first commercial rollouts expected as soon as February of next year, we figure it's a good thing they have so much actual product to show. We're a little miffed at the idea that the standard is robbing sweet, sweet bandwidth from the traditional ATSC signal (as opposed to, say, DVB-H and MediaFLO, which rock their own frequencies), but we can also appreciate why this might speed mobile TV rollouts due to a significantly reduced dedicated infrastructure footprint. And besides, who isn't excited about the prospect of watching the boob tube at 140 miles per hour?
Hands-on photos of LG's MPH mobile broadcast standard
In the wake of LG's press conference today we're still a little skeptical that the world needs yet another standard for mobile TV, but for what it's worth, the company appears to have signed up a variety of partners in an effort to push it -- and they certainly brought enough eye candy hardware with prototype MPH hardware already integrated. In the mix was a modified VX9400, an LG laptop, a portable media player, and a USB dongle, and with the first commercial rollouts expected as soon as February of next year, we figure it's a good thing they have so much actual product to show. We're a little miffed at the idea that the standard is robbing sweet, sweet bandwidth from the traditional ATSC signal (as opposed to, say, DVB-H and MediaFLO, which rock their own frequencies), but we can also appreciate why this might speed mobile TV rollouts due to a significantly reduced dedicated infrastructure footprint. And besides, who isn't excited about the prospect of watching the boob tube at 140 miles per hour?%Gallery-12732%
LG to demo "MPH" mobile TV system at CES
It looks like the stumbling transition over to digital television here in the US is about to get a little help from LG, which is planning on showing a new mobile digital TV system called MPH at CES. MPH, or Mobile Pedestrian Handheld, is based on an existing system called vestigial side band, or VSB, and can be retrofitted to existing digital systems, enabling a wide range of services -- even to vehicles traveling at highway speeds. LG says it spent two years and $7.4M developing the tech -- we'd say our TV habit is totally worth it.[Via MocoNews]
LG / Harris announce In-Band mobile DTV system
Ah, yet another technology that looks oh-so-promising from the onset, but quickly becomes dulled when wading through the technical jargon required to understand it. So is the case with digital television broadcasting, but Harris Corporation and LG Electronics don't seem to mind the complexities involved in establishing a new In-Band Mobile DTV service, as the duo has just announced the means to allow broadcasters to "create new markets and revenue streams" -- but besides all that -- give the end-user yet another option when it comes to TV on the go. Reportedly backwards compatible with A-VSB transmission and receiving equipment, the forthcoming Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld (MPH) applications should theoretically allow DTV broadcasters to beam signals to set-top-boxes in the home and mobile devices simultaneously via the same antenna. Additionally, this technology enables HD programming to hit the couch-dwelling customers, while bandwidth-starved cellphone users will still get vanilla SD content without relying on new (read: pricey) hardware on the broadcasting end. Unfortunately, we've no idea when mass deployment of this stuff is scheduled, but you can still look forward to "field testing results" as well as mysterious "extra details" to be divulged in a few short weeks.
Collectible Metroid statue; where's Samus?
The guys at First 4 Figures dropped us a tip to let us know about their upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters collectible, a 9" tall figurine of super-soldier bounty hunter Kanden. "Who?"Oh, Kanden. He's one of the six "hunters" in Metroid Prime Hunters. Yeah, the ones that most people thought were annoying in the otherwise stellar single-player game. What is cool about the statue is that it was recreated from the actual game data (like this guy), so expect a slightly less polygonal -- though highly accurate -- collectible. The website says the figurine will "feature an interconnecting base with the other upcoming hunters." Does that mean we will get a Samus? She's a bounty hunter! Samus is coming ... but not in just one suit. Oh no, we'll have four versions to plunk our would be gaming dollars down on, as well as all the other Hunters.As long as we're on the topic of the Hunters, am I the only one who thought their names sound sort of like American Gladiators: Noxus, Stylux, Spire, Trace, Weavel, and of course, Kanden?See also:Samus returns as... a Metroid paperweightSpore figurines at E3[Update: Noted that they're making additional figurines, including Samus. More info here.]
Apple ad archives: sending "electronic mail" at 670 million mph
Anyone feel like sending mail at 670,000,000 mph? Apparently Apple's customers did, as they used this slogan in an ad back in the (what I believe to be) Apple III days. Check out a much larger version of the ad for more better details on an Apple ad from the days of sending email "late at night (when phone rates are lowest)."[via digg]
