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BMW and Siemens partnering for wireless-charging EVs, cutting the cord this May
Back at CES we were dazzled by Fulton Innovation's vision of the future of wireless power, which included an inductively-charged Tesla Roadster. Now, someone's actually making it a reality. Siemens and BMW are partnering on a field trial for inductive chargers, with the device itself making its debut in May ahead of it being deployed in Berlin in June. In theory these can be installed into parking lots, taxi queues, and of course driveways, sunk right into the ground -- out of sight and mind. Neither company is saying which prototype car will be given the ability to catch the waves that these inductive chargesters will be throwing out, but we'd hazard a guess it'll be one of BMW's new i cars, which won't look nearly as futuristic as the invisible wheels above that look to have escaped from the Wonder Woman set. [Thanks, Jason]
German researchers take mind-controlled car for a carefully-controlled spin
Emotiv's mind-reading EPOC headset may not have changed the face of video games, but it looks like it's proven to be more than adequate for a team of German researchers, who've used it as the key component in their BrainDriver project. Yes, that's a mind-controlled car and, after a bit of training, is does appear to have performed reasonably well -- albeit with a slight delay that makes any real world test a worse idea than it already was. Interestingly, this latest effort actually follows some previous attempts at a completely autonomous car by the same group of researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin, and they say that the two could eventually be combined at some point in the distant future -- for instance, in a taxi that's able to drive itself but also responds to the thoughts of its passengers. Head on past the break for the video.
Apple's new Berlin store will open in upscale Kurfürstendamm
Two different German Mac news sites report that Apple's latest store in Berlin will be placed in the Kurfürstendamm section of the city, an upscale shopping avenue that houses big fashion store name hotels and nice restaurants. That sounds about right for an Apple store. Both iFun and Macerkopf report that the location will have 5,000 square feet in a former movie theater located across from the Hard Rock Cafe. Posted to Flickr by user Katymcc, the photo to the right shows the location in 1950, when it was renamed the "Wien," formerly known as the Union Palace. iFun says construction is waiting on a few permissions, but there's no word on when the store will be done or officially opened. Apple is making a nice push for retail overseas lately, so by the time this new Berlin store is completely finished, it should be yet another jewel in the Apple retail crown.
DBM Energy's electric Audi A2 completes record setting 372 mile drive on a single charge
116 miles in an electric vehicle? No problem. But you'll quite literally be pushing your new Nissan Leaf another 250 miles to achieve what's being hailed as a world record in Germany. Little Lekker Mobil, a four-seat Audi A2 refitted with an experimental electric powerplant as part of a government sponsored project with Germany's lekker Energie and DBM Energy, just completed a 372-mile (600-km) stretch of road between Munich and Berlin on a single charge, a journey that lasted around seven hours. Even with the heater running, the modified A2 with fully usable trunk arrived with spare electricity in the "tank." The battery uses DBM Energy's KOLIBRI AlphaPolymer Technology said to be 97 percent efficient and chargeable from virtually any socket -- plug it into a high voltage DC source and it can be fully charged in just six minutes according to the car's driver and battery inventor, Mirko Hannemann. While Hannemann wouldn't be pinned down on pricing for the battery, the 27 year old did say that it would be more powerful and cheaper than conventional lithium ion batteries. He even went so far as to suggest that his company was ready to begin mass production of the batteries now -- presumably aided by the large sacks of money he'll be handed after pulling off the record breaking stunt.
Driverless taxi gets called with an iPad
This is just wild! A group of researchers in Berlin have been working on "autonomous cars" for a while. Those, of course, are cars that drive themselves, and as you can see above, this one uses a variety of equipment to monitor the road and environment. It then drives by itself according to all of that information. The Berlin team has pushed the idea ahead by hooking the car up to an iPad. In the video posted after the break, you can see how it all works. The iPad's GPS location is sent out to the car, and then the user can even track the car's movement and scanner information directly from the iPad. It's a cool use of Apple's technology, though not all of that would make it to a consumer implementation of this technology, of course (and I don't think that we as a society have even started taking on all the implications of cars that drive themselves). As a prototype, though, it seems like it works great. [via MacStories]
Self-driving taxi picks you up at the press of a button (video)
Who needs safety drivers? Not Germany's Freie University, that's for sure, which has just demonstrated a self-driving taxi to rival Google's efforts without a soul at the wheel. This laser, radar and sensor-equipped VW Passat, dubbed "Made in Germany," has a companion iPad app from Appirion to do all the hard work, too -- you just start the program, punch in coordinates and wait for the car to extract itself from a nearby parking lot and pick you up from school. Ladies and gents, the future is now. Watch it right after the break. [Thanks, Tim]
Face of Mankind continues updating new content
Face of Mankind recently got a nice-sized update in the form of NPCs to hand out quests and a brand new city. Duplex Systems is continuing to fine-tune these updates by adding to them, and players will find even more new content in the next few weeks. For those of you who found the new NPC system a bit confusing, there is now a tutorial in-game to help you get your bearings. Face of Mankind's unusual setup meant that more than a few players gave up on figuring things out, and Duplex acknowledges that, hoping that the tutorial will induce players to give them a second chance. The tutorials will be worth your while in either case, as they will offer significant monetary rewards. You'll find some changes to combat in Face of Mankind as well, including the addition of a recoil system for a little extra realism -- you'll need a little extra skill to hit your target as you compensate for the recoil now -- as well as faster overall combat speeds. Finally, the city of Berlin has been re-introduced as a completely lawless city: killing other players will no longer earn penalty points, so watch your back. Take a look at the Face of Mankind site to learn more about these latest updates.
Face of Mankind adds new NPCs and city
Face of Mankind, the young MMOFPS from Duplex Systems, has gotten a pretty significant update just a few months after going retail. A problem that comes with a game containing player-generated content is...well, a lack of content at times. The addition of NPCs with this update will go a long way toward solving that problem in Face of Mankind, as they will bring the introduction of "chained missions, which have a definite starting and ending point, and open up further successive missions upon the completion of prior ones." NPCs aren't the only addition, however. The city of Berlin has arrived to Face of Mankind as well, but it's not quite the Berlin you remember. Described as a "dilapidated wasteland", the city is an area devoid of any sort of law. If you've not checked out the story behind the fall of Berlin on the FoM site, spend some time catching up before venturing in game -- it's well worth it. The new content is in game now, so if you haven't checked it out for yourself, what are you waiting for?
Lonely Planet giving away free iPhone guides in honor of Eyjafjallajökull messing with Europe
Did Eyjafjallajökull mess your week up? The answer is probably "no" if you're asking who Eyjafjallajökull is. For those of us who did have our week interrupted by that big exploding volcano in Iceland, Lonely Planet is offering thirteen of its City Guides for free in the App Store (and okay, they're free to all, no proof of volcano-interruption required). The aptly-named "Volcano Relief Sale" is being held in hopes of helping travelers stuck in unfamiliar places find "access to practical information as well as suggestions on what to do whilst stranded," according to Tom Hall, Lonely Planet Travel Editor. "That's why we're giving away iPhone city guides to major affected destinations." Those destinations include: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, and Vienna. I've been to all but two of those destinations, and if you're stuck in any of them, you really should be thanking Eyjafjallajökull (and now, Lonely Planet). The thirteen City Guides are normally priced between $10 and $15, so this is quite a bargain. But act fast, the City Guides will only be available for free until April 22 -- hopefully a date which will also see many more planes back in the air. [via Macworld] [Image by NASA Goddard Photo and Video]
Siemens gurus hit 500Mbps with white LED lights, dare you to blink
You know what's better than wireless power? Nothing, frankly. You know what comes darn close? Wicked fast transmissions through thin air. Researchers from Siemens have just shattered their own record for wireless data transfer using white LED light, hitting a whopping 500Mbps while working in collaboration with the Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin. The old record sat at "just" 200Mbps, but the new speeds are helping to take Visible Light Communication from a hopeful technology to a serious contender in the space. These same researchers were also able to show that a system using up to five LEDs is capable of beaming out data over long distances at up to 100Mbps. We're told that the IEEE has been toiling tirelessly since 2007 to standardize activities in this field, and while a late 2010 completion date is currently being penciled in, we're not holding our breath. Anyone remember how long it took 802.11n to escape "draft?"[Thanks, Mademoiselle Y]
Engadget is live from IFA 2009 in Berlin, Engadget German tapped as official blog of the show!
Interesting fact about Berlin: all the buildings here look like spaceships! Also, the city plays host to the IFA tradeshow each year, a sprawling landscape of gadget treasure, and we're here to pick up where we left off last year. Today we've got a Sony press conference to look forward to, and tomorrow we'll be hit by a tidal wave of announcements from the rest of the industry -- or at least that's the plan. We'll also be hitting up the show floor soon enough with our pals from Engadget Spanish and Engadget German, the latter of which has been dubbed the official blog of the show! Engadget German will also be hosting a reader meetup on Saturday at the convention center, so stand by for more information on that. Naturally, all of this will take place within massive buildings that look like spaceships.
Fraunhofer Institute's fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it's ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure -- for example -- car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.
IFA Berlin: yeah, we're here
Come now, you didn't think we'd let something like IFA pass by without shipping a few editors off to Berlin did you? We're on the ground and taking names in the best ninja gear we could sew with $5 worth of felt and tin foil. But hey, it's not the costume that keeps you coming back, it's the content. So stay tuned.
Enormous digital clock spotted at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum
We've no idea if this here is actually the "world's largest" clock, but it's quite sizable, indeed. Recently spotted at the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum in Berlin, Germany, this art installation reportedly does an outstanding job of telling time, running on pneumatics and breaking the silence every minute with an eerie hiss. If we didn't know any better, we'd say Coldplay got ahold of this thing when it toured in 2005, but then again, we know better.
Orange announces city-themed mobiles for the UK market
Looking to add a breath of fresh air in the handset game, Orange has announced that it will launch a line of city-themed mobile phones in time for the Christmas holiday. The first mobile to launch is called the Berlin and is an entry level, rubberized slider sporting 3G. The device is designed for Orange's pay as you go service and is priced to be easy on the pocket book. Since the device will launch as a market exclusive, don't expect to find the device in any Orange markets other than the UK. Look for more geographically-inclined phones to hit the lineup in 2008, some of which will move toward the higher end. Does anyone else think it makes sense that Orange launches phones named after cities in which they don't have service?[Via textually.org]
Steve Jobs in Berlin tomorrow, France on Thursday?
Now, we know how hot-under-the collar you guys get when we note El-Jobso's movements in Europe, but news is news, people. Just as speculated yesterday, it appears that the Apple honcho is working his way across Europe, moving nation-to-nation to spread the good word of iPhone wherever his New Balance touch ground. Not content with just launching the device in London for the O2 network, the company is taking this show on the road, traveling to Berlin on Wednesday where Jobs and his turtleneck will supposedly announce a partnership for the iPhone with T-Mobile. Expect EDGE, lots of screen touching, and Steve saying, "OH-, eine weitere Sache." Then, as we hear, it's off to France for some sightseeing. Just kidding... about the sightseeing.[Thanks, Floris]
Berlin's Tesla gallery hosts ghostly techno-art
Do you like art? Do you like mystery? Do you like technology? We get the impression that at least some of you are either nodding in agreement, or mouthing the words, "Yes I do," over and over. If you're one of those lucky few, here's some information you might enjoy. Two artists at the Tesla gallery in Berlin have created fairly interesting works which also happen to have connections with technology and our perception of technology. The first is called Digit, wherein a writer sits at a table and runs his hand over a blank piece of paper; as his hand moves down the page, words appears as if by magic, though no mechanism for writing is visible to an observer. In the second piece, artist Martin Riches has created a random number generator, a complex system of wood and string which allows a steel ball to propel through the machine, eventually playing one of three instruments when its journey comes to an end. Interesting stuff, surely... but can it play Doom?
Philips announces new TiVo-like DVRs at IFA
Word on the street is that Philips has decided to dip its collective toes into the DVR world with a new line of products that appear, at least ostensibly, to compete with TiVo. Like the "TiVo Suggestions" feature that the recorder-company offers, Philips' new devices tout user preference tracking, which will "learn" different user's likes and dislikes, and create custom sets of programming geared towards those tastes. The new line will also be able to access and download YouTube and other internet video, as well as podcast content. Advertising on the new boxes will also follow user's watching habits, thus ensuring a steady flow of laser-targeted ads beamed directly at your face. Apparently the new products will begin their lifecycle as software for PCs, but will eventually become set-top boxes for the living room. What's really interesting here is that Philips used to manufacture TiVo hardware, which increases the chances of cross-pollination (and lawsuits) oh... about tenfold.
Hands-on with the Navigon 2100 at IFA
Engadget hit the GPS section of IFA in a major way today, scoring some serious face time with Navigon's new bargain-basement 2100 GPS. Our thoughts? For the price, this is a pretty tight little package. While the screen isn't quite as big as some of the competition, the interface and build quality put this in a class that you would think would break slightly more bank... but no. Check the gallery for a vast and varied selection of photos.%Gallery-6748%
Hands-on with the TomTom GO 920
If you've used a TomTom device recently, these photos will look shockingly familiar to you. Like a crime scene in a 1980's Charles Bronson flick, there's nothing to see here, folks. You're looking at the TomTom GO 920, sure, but there are pretty much no differences between this and the GO 720, save for a feature which the company refers to as "Enhanced Positioning Technology" (which uses an accelerometer to maintain your course, even out of satellite range). Regardless, we snapped some pics of the little dude, and we'd be hurt if you didn't at least take a peak.%Gallery-6756%
