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New eco ferry uses wind and solar to get you to the Rock -- and hopefully back
Cruising across the open seas may seem like a great way to get close to nature, but take a look at the sheer quantity of fuel most boats suck down as they power through waves (and manatees) and you'll realize the truth. Thus a new breed of eco-friendly boat has arisen, the latest entry being San Francisco's Alcatraz Cruises Hornblower Hybrid ferry. The ship, which will take passengers on trips to the Rock and elsewhere in the Bay, uses two vertical wind turbines and a solar panel to power its on-board electronics, with any excess juice going to the boat's propulsion systems -- which still rely mostly on diesel to get the craft and its passengers where they're going. Okay, so it's perhaps not as green as other eco-boats we've seen, but a tour on this one should be a good bit more affordable when it enters service early this year. [Via Inhabitat]
Macs being installed in cruise ships, hotels
Yesterday we posted a tip about using your iPhone on a cruise ship, but what about if you want to use a Mac on a ship or in a hotel and you don't have a MacBook to take along with you?AppleInsider's Prince McLean is reporting that installations of Macs in hotels and on cruise ships are going strong, with thousands of Apple machines being sold for installation in those locations by Apple's Enterprise Sales Group. Back in June we mentioned the Fontainebleau's plans in Vegas -- they're also installing another 1,400 24" iMacs in rooms at the flagship resort in Miami Beach. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has Mac minis installed on its Freedom Class (3,600 passenger) ships, and is working with Apple on IT infrastructure for its upcoming Oasis Class (5,400 passenger) liners. The deployments planned will have up to 16,150 Ethernet drops per ship, racks full of Xserves, and thousands of client Macs. Whether it's an in-room email and information kiosk, a public information center, or an intelligent set-top box, the Mac is definitely making inroads into the hospitality and travel industry.[via AppleInsider]
HD IPTV solution for vessels and cruise ships gets showcased
If there's one glaring negative about hopping on a cruise ship off the coast of Europe and letting go for weeks at the time, it's the gaping hole in your soul created from losing HD programming for that same amount of time. Now, however, RICO is showing off BNS' HD IPTV solution designed specifically for vessels and cruise ships at the Asia Pacific Maritime trade show. Purportedly, the solution will support broadcast HD channels, video-on-demand services, personal messaging and interactive services, and while no cruise lines were specifically mentioned, the firm is unquestionably aiming to "deploy BNS' MDU IPTV solution to the hospitality market in the maritime segment." Pssh, who needs ocean views when you've got this?
HTC's Touch Cruise caught on video
Hot on the heels of the official announcement of HTC's Touch Cruise -- the company's new, touch-sensitive, GPS equipped wonder-device -- come these "in the wild" pictures and video from CoolSmartPhone. As you can see, the Touch Cruise is sporting the now-familiar HTC TouchFLO interface, though apparently the handset-maker has updated the picture and video album UI. The site also hosts some shots of the GPS navigation in action, and examples of the updated onscreen keyboard. Check the video after the break, then point your browser towards the read link and see all the shots.
HTC Polaris gets specs leaked, renamed the Touch Cruise
The next step in the HTC Touch line -- the GPS-equipped Polaris -- has been re-christened the Touch Cruise, and has gone and gotten its juicy specs all leaked out to the internet. In addition to having improved TouchFlo capabilities, like rotation and zoom, the new model will sport a quad-band GSM radio (850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900), tri-band UMTS (850 / 1900 / 2100), HSDPA and HSUPA data connectivity, a 400MHz MSM7200 Qualcomm CPU, 128MB of RAM and 256MB of ROM, a 2.8-inch, 320 x 240 QVGA display, 3-megapixel camera (plus secondary, 0.3-megapixel camera), WiFi, Bluetooth, and a microSD slot. Apparently, the design of the device hasn't been finalized, though it will likely feature four buttons and a navigation wheel (similar to the pics up above). Mouth watering? Eyes tearing up? We understand. The Cruise is expected by the end of November, so go easy on your credit cards till then.Update: Thanks to CoolSmartPhone and Smart Mobile Gadgets, we've gotten a proper view of the Touch Cruise, and it's sweet!
Nintendo uses Summer to promote the Wii
Playing your favorite console at home is for suckers, apparently, as Nintendo shot us a press release reminding us that the Wii will be rocking several different venues in the U.S. this Summer. Aside from the cruise ships and theme parks the console has already been confirmed to be available at, Nintendo adds sporting goods retailer Dick's to the list. Dick's, who is sponsoring a Soccer tournament this Summer, will have Wii's on display in various stores during the 53-city-wide tournament. The Wiis will naturally have sports games available for play to all of the kids participating in the tournament, including Wii Sports and Mario Strikers: Charged (after it release on July 30th).[Via press release]
Nintendo Wii offered on cruise ships, old people finally stop playing shuffleboard
Norwegian Cruise Line today announced it will offer guests a new service aboard their luxury liners: Nintendo Wii games. The system is already on all NCL America ships and will be rolled out to the rest of the fleet by next month. Each set-up comes equipped with Wii Sports, Wii Play, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and Excite Truck (which, embarrassingly, forgot to pack its mini-games). Guests can play the Wii on large screens in each ship's atrium and kids will have special kiosks so they don't have to fight their grandparents for a turn.
You can't escape: Carnival brings cellular to the open sea
Some of us take cruises to escape the crushing reality of being within reach at all times, but for everyone else, Carnival Cruise Lines has announced a partnership with Wireless Maritime Services to outfit its entire 21-ship fleet with cellular networks. WMS is a joint venture of Cingular and Maritime Telecommunications Network, but despite Cingular's affinity for GSM, the system supports both GSM and CDMA handsets and has roaming agreements in place with Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile, among several other major carriers. Staying in touch from the middle of the Atlantic ain't cheap, though: even Cingular's own customers can look forward to paying $2.49/minute for the privilege.[Via Mobiledia]
WoW Moviewatch: I Quit
Ok, so it has Tom Cruise in it, which breaks one of my most cardinal rules...but it also happens to be the best Tom Cruise movie since that one all those years ago where he wore a little elf-suit & fought the devil with a unicorn horn. You'll see...