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Original USS Enterprise prop restored to its former glory
There's probably enough material about the tragic afterlives of the USS Enterprise models to fill a small book, at least. Until two years ago, the 1701 prop used for Star Trek (1966) had been left hanging in the Smithsonian's basement gift shop. Now, to celebrate the museum's 40th anniversary, the model has been restored as an exhibit in the Boeing Milestones of Flight hall, which opens Friday. A team, led by the museum's chief conservator Malcolm Collum, collaborated with fans and Industrial Light and Magic to restore the model to its former glories. After all, a 50-year-old prop from a '60s TV show was never designed to last this long.
NVIDIA-branded mystery tablet passes through Taiwan's NCC
Rumors have circulated of an NVIDIA-designed Android tablet, but there has been little hard evidence of its existence. Thankfully, NVIDIA just provided some clues of its own: as Blog of Mobile noticed, the company recently sent a self-branded P1640 tablet to Taiwan's National Communications Commission for approval. While the filing reveals few details of the hardware apart from the expected presences of Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi, it's safe to presume that the slate uses an NVIDIA-made processor like the Tegra 4. The real mystery is the P1640's intended audience. When NVIDIA already has a Tegra 4 reference tablet, the new design isn't necessarily built for internal use; it could also be a developer device or a consumer product like Shield. It's not clear if or when NVIDIA will announce the tablet, but you can check out a second NCC photo of the gadget after the break.
HTC applies for 'Fetch' trademark, tracking device passes through Taiwan's NCC
Just what the heck is the HTC Fetch? Well, it's certainly not a phone. In fact, it appears to be some sort of tracking device according to a filling with Taiwan's NCC. Unfortunately, beyond some broad strokes describing the device in a US trademark filing, we're left with only our imagination to figure out how the Fetch might work. Apparently it's a "portable multifunction electronic tracking device for assistance in locating mobile phones, smartphones, cellular phones, portable computers, tablet computers..." The list goes on and on. We do know there's both a hardware (potentially Bluetooth-powered) and software component, and that while there's a lot of talk about finding lost phones or laptops, HTC also sees the potential for "tracking and locating people." Now it's just a waiting game to find out if the company has any intention of actually selling tracking accessories.
Panasonic Lumix GF6 passes through Taiwan certification with WiFi
Panasonic's support for WiFi in its Micro Four Thirds cameras has so far skewed toward the high end. Thanks to a new filing at Taiwan's National Communications Commission, though, we know the entry level should be covered as well. The regulator has been looking at a DMC-GF6 camera with with built-in WiFi, hinting that the Lumix GF5's sequel will make networking one of its centerpiece upgrades. Other clues aren't quite as forthcoming -- there's nothing imaging-related at the NCC, so we don't know if the GF6 is an optical revolution or another subtle refresh. It's mostly safe to presume that Panasonic will watch out for celebrity leaks this time around.
Samsung Galaxy Premier shows at Taiwan regulator, carries few traces of its Nexus roots
The Galaxy Premier has so far existed only on the fringes; we've seen unconfirmed benchmarks, model name mentions and press renders, but virtually nothing tangible. Taiwan's NCC regulatory body has made Samsung's phone much more corporeal with several photos of the device under its GT-i9260 badge. While the live look only confirms 3G and short-range wireless on the outside, it proves that there's very little of that claimed Galaxy Nexus DNA left on the outside -- other than the possible 4.65-inch screen, the Premier has fallen completely in line with the Galaxy S III's design language. It's safe to presume that we won't be using stock Android on this handset, then. We're just left waiting on Samsung for confirmation of the mid-range smartphone's details and exactly when we can give it a try.
Fusion Garage's Grid 10 just won't die, preparing comeback as Compal's Smart Pad PBJ40
Usually, once a gadget gets canned it either just disappears or it ends up stumbling back under a different brand. Because, you know, some unfortunate manufacturer may have an orphaned stock to get rid of, or maybe it doesn't want to waste the expensive tooling developed for the failed product. Either way, judging by a fresh NCC (Taiwan's FCC, basically) filing dug up by our brethren over at Engadget Chinese, it looks like the Grid 10 from the now-defunct Fusion Garage may well crawl out of its grave just like that. While there's still the "Grid 10" branding on the back of the tablet, the two-day-old NCC document recognizes Compal as the company brand (presumably it was Fusion Garage's OEM partner for this), and there's also a new but rather mundane name for the device: "Smart Pad," model "PBJ40." Sadly, there's not much else to look at here apart from the vanilla Android Froyo or Gingerbread (instead of Grid OS) sighting in the pics, as well as the Bluetooth and 802.11b/g/n WiFi mention. So the question is: what will Compal do with this Smart Pad? Resurrect Fusion Garage in Taiwan? Unlikely (though Chandra does like to surprise people). Offload the lot to Taiwanese carriers or stores? We'll bet our money on that.
