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Lumigon T1 with ICEpower amplifiers officially unveiled, to arrive 'by the very end of this year'
Just as promised, Denmark-based Lumigon has finally lifted the curtains over its much hyped T1 Android handset. Specs include an 800MHz Freescale i.MX515 chipset with an optional Qualcomm HSDPA modem, along with a 3.5-inch 480 x 800 capacitive touchscreen LCD, 5 megapixel autofocus camera, A-GPS, Bluetooth and FM radio. What the Scandinavian company's really selling here, though, is the phone's multimedia features: not only does it have a FM transmitter, a HDMI dock and Bang & Olufsen's renowned ICEpower audio amplifiers, but it also doubles up as an "innovative" universal remote control for your various AV devices -- pretty unique for an Android device, we'll give you that. Interestingly, the press release omits any mention of Froyo, so here's a glimmer of hope that Lumigon will manage to skin whatever the latest version of Android will be in time for the launch -- a few lucky outlets will receive the phones "by the very end of this year," just in time for your Christmas refunds. Oh, and remember the sister handset S1? We're now told that this T9 slider won't be out until Q3 2011. Sometimes it's better to take one step at a time, eh?%Gallery-105684%
No Comment: Denmark's Parliament members get free iPhones
It's true that the iPhone was previously banned from the floor of the Danish Folketing (Parliament) by its President Thor Pedersen. This was at least partially due to Member of Parliament Sophie Haestorp Andersen updating her Facebook page 59 times during a prolonged debate -- certainly more than is polite. Nevertheless, it was reported by Politiken.DK that last week all 179 Members of Parliament and an undisclosed number of the staff of 1,000 adminstrators have each been given a 16GB iPhone3GS. Folketing press secretary Peter Krab announced that after testing a number of mobile phones, it was decided that the iPhone best met the requirements of the Folketing, so they went with it. No one is willing to say how much it cost the Danish people who are currently taxed at a progressive rate that maxes out at 51.9% (one of the highest rates in the world). At a retail cost of 5500 Kroner (approx US $1022.21) without a contract, the potential cost was not lost on the Danes, who according to comments on a similar story posted on mobilsiden.dk were less than amused at not only the public squandering of money, but that the Folketing went for an older model instead of the current iPhone 4. To all of this, we say no comment.
EA Sports MMA won't be sold in Denmark because of energy drink law
Let's play a quick game of "which of these two things is the craziest thing you've ever heard?" So, there's this Scandinavian law which prohibits any form of marketing for energy drinks, which EA Sports MMA (with its energy drink-branded fighter shorts and environments) would flagrantly violate. That's weird, right? Here's what's weirder: EA Sports has decided to cancel the game's release in the region outright to preserve the game's authenticity. So, which is more bizarre? The fact that fans of dudefights living in Denmark won't be able to get their EA Sports MMA fix due to energy drink pants? Or the fact that EA Sports refuses to change the energy drink pants into Taco Bell pants because it would ruin the authenticity of the MMA experience? We're leaning towards the latter.
Lumigon T1 gets Froyo and a major facelift, makes glamorous appearance on Facebook
Looks like there are at least two things that the Danes can get right: butter cookies, and hyping it up for a delayed Android handset. According to Lumigon's Facebook page, what we're looking at here is the first official rendering of the T1's redesign -- quite a radical change here, especially with the new navigation pad and the now externally-accessible microSD slot. Apart from an earlier statement confirming Froyo for said device, this picture alone is literally all we're being teased with right now, so feel free to "like" the Danish company's Facebook page for some more forthcoming gadget porn. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Lumigon announces unveiling party for first smartphone, invites everyone on Facebook
Yes, you're invited too. Lumigon wowed us with some simple, sophisticated looking handset renders way back in February, the S1 and the T1, promising things like HDMI output and Android 2.1 -- wild things back then. Just five months on and those features sound a little more pedestrian, so we're wondering how it will stack up when the T1 is finally unveiled in the flesh in another three months, on October 20. It'll be a wild night when the Scandinavian Lumigon crew lets loose its keyboard-free smartphone upon the denizens of Copenhagen. Will any Dane be safe? [Thanks, Jakob]
GDC 2010: From concept to Top Paid with Unity iPhone
Unity Technologies hosted the sponsored lunch panel during GDC 2010 today, and their "product evangelist" Tom Higgins gave a quick rundown of the software platform that enables developers to assemble and release games extremely quickly on multiple platforms. The company was actually founded in Denmark, but has since expanded around the world with just two products: Unity Pro and Unity iPhone Pro. The second product, as you might imagine, allows developers to put together an application that can then be exported out into an Xcode project and released on the App Store. Higgins said that they've had over 90,000 people download the software since it was released for free last fall, and that more than 500 games in the App Store were authored by Unity. He also ran a short demo of the software at the panel. While some of the coding got a little technical (the system allows you to create and change variables on in-game objects even while the game is running in the engine), the coolest feature was the way they simulated iPhone controls: by using a real iPhone as a remote. They've released a free app on the App Store that will connect via Wi-Fi with a copy of the development tool running on your Mac, and as you touch and turn the iPhone, the editor reacts, and sends the (slightly lower resolution) output to the iPhone's screen. You can also make changes to your code as the game runs in that mode, so you can be playing and coding at the same time.
3 Scandinavia first out of the gate with 84Mbps HSPA
LTE? Who needs stinkin' LTE? The 3GPP's HSPA roadmap still has plenty of runway to get faster, interestingly -- enough runway, in fact, for just about any practical application you could throw at it shy of hosting Engadget's back-end operations. Historically, Australia's Telstra has had a track record of staying on top of the HSPA tech path, but just a few months after it demoed 42Mbps service, 3's Scandinavian branch is hard at work with Ericsson to deploy an 84Mbps network -- up from 21Mbps before -- through a combination of backhaul and equipment upgrades plus the addition of a new 900MHz carrier. It'll become the world's fastest HSPA network at launch, with the rollout starting in Denmark and parts of Sweden this quarter -- and hey, do us a favor and let us know if you come across any 84Mbps handsets, alright?
Xbox Live Video Marketplace coming to 10 more countries 'this fall'
As far as we know, the kind of laziness which prevents you from visiting the nearest Blockbuster Video is a worldwide phenomenon. According to a press release (.doc link) dropped just in time for CES, Microsoft is catering to this global lethargy by opening up the Xbox Live Video Marketplace to ten more countries this fall: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Australia and New Zealand. Basically, if the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was playing Risk, it'd have a kickass lock on the Eastern Hemisphere.
Diffus pollution dress is turned on by CO2, prefers a clean environment
We've seen LED-laced dresses before -- though sometimes we'd rather we hadn't -- but this one here is almost refined enough for us to consider wearing. Stitched together using conductive embroidery, hundreds of LEDs are connected to a CO2 detector and react to its input with anything from a slow pulsating glow to a blinking signal of doom. No mention of Morse code messages, unfortunately, but this is run by an Arduino chip -- which means programming malleability (read: near-limitless possibilities) should be built in. Just know that when you see the next Bond girl communicating with Daniel Craig via her haute tech outfit, we had the idea first. A closeup of the dress and processor awaits after the break.
Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
The Beatles: Rock Band's initial U.S. tour at retail has proven boast-worthy for its promoters. Following two promising platform appearances in NPD's top 10 software sales chart for September, MTV Games and Harmonix have declared B:RB "the top selling music video game in the U.S. for September." The Beatles–only game (released September 9) outsold Guitar Hero 5 (released September 1) with 595,000 units to 499,000 units in total U.S. sales for the month, according to a statement released by the NPD*. Additionally, charity-driven purchases of the "All You Need Is Love" DLC track exceeded 100,000 downloads on Xbox 360 in September.The makers of B:RB have also rubbed in a few seemingly noteworthy facts; namely, (1) U.S. purchases of GH5 in September were eligible for a free mail-away copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and (2) GH5 is available on one additional platform, PS2. Of course, Van Halen isn't exactly the American equivalent of The Beatles, and the PS2 is no longer the dominant platform to stage one's acts upon. Still, despite the staggering odds stacked against its success, B:RB managed to capture the mindshare of U.S. gamers. (And we all know that Americans like to speak their minds with their monies.)The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix -- what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The Beatles: Rock Band "2-to-1 in the UK." So, score a victory for B:RB in the battle of the bands fought in U.S. retail last month. But let's not forget there's a bigger, "World War of Rock" being waged, as well. And our wallets are the oft-unreported collateral damage.
Roskilde University to open super-hero city and host machinima contest
Danish Roskilde University in Trekroner, Roskilde is celebrating the art of machinima with a competition kicking off in Second Life later this week. The competition coincides with the opening of the university's new Second Life research-center, "Metrotopia – City of Superheroes." The launch event kicks off on Friday, 28 August at 11:30AM SLT (US Pacific time), and the details of the competition will be announced in conjunction with the opening address at Noon SLT.
Full Brutal Legend soundtrack released by EA Denmark
Fun fact: Heavy Metal was invented in Denmark in 1843 by Professor Garth Metallus in a horrible lab accident involving taut metal strings and a primitive electroacoustical transducer. The spirit of the rock music has innundated the nation ever since -- as such, we're not surprised that EA Denmark was the studio which recently revealed the 100-plus thrashing songs which will be included in Double Fine's upcoming epic rock story, Brütal Legend.The list has since been pulled from EA Denmark's site, but not before Kotaku snagged a screencap of a translated version of the page. We've got the whole kit n' caboodle posted after the jump. Unless EA makes some drastic changes to the final setlist, they're going to have to put a Surgeon General's warning on the game, telling players they're about to subject themselves to a terrible case of face melting.%Gallery-41208%
Video: Better Place's automated electric vehicle battery switch station is faster than Melvin Dummar
It's massive, costs $500,000, and is just a prototype; but you're looking at a possible solution for swapping out heavy car batteries from future electric vehicles. Kind of important if you're hoping to take your EV on a trip a bit further than the supermarket or city center without having to stop for a lengthy recharge. This switch station, unveiled in Japan by Better Place, can swap out a spent battery in less time than it takes to refuel the tank in that baby-killer of a car you hold so precious. These battery swap stations are just part of the enormous infrastructure required to support Better Place's subscription approach to electric vehicles -- infrastructure easily estimated to cost $250 million or so for countries like Israel or Denmark on up to the $1 Billion already pledged by San Francisco Bay Area mayors. Better Place admits that the swap technology is a work in progress but hopes to have 150,000 charging stations and about 100 battery swap stations deployed in Israel by 2011. Check the video after the break.
Dell's $299 Mini 10v (Inspiron 1011) goes on sale, kind of
You won't find it on-line yet, but Dell is already taking orders for its new Mini 10v netbook. At least in Denmark where Willy got his order in this morning. The biggest difference between the Mini 10v (aka, Inspiron 1011) and Mini 10 is the processor: the Mini 10v uses a netbook-standard N270 Diamondville-class Atom processor instead of the Z5xx Silverthorne-class processor found in the 10-inch original. What you give up in video processing performance (and perhaps battery life) you more than make for in price as the Mini 10v starts at $299, not $399 like the original.[Thanks, Willy N.]
Casmobot lawnmower is a slave to the flick of a Wiimote
Most of the time we see a Wii mote controlling something tangible, it's more for entertainment value like an airsoft gun or Rovio. The Casmobot lawnmower, developed by scientists from the University of Southern Denmark, is actually quite useful if you loathe outdoor chores. It can be steered into grass-cutting action via the tilt of the controller synced with Bluetooth. Alternatively, you can drive it for a lap around the border of the yard and then put it on autopilot to mow inside the designated zone. We wouldn't run in front of it while its in motion, though, it's probably not as forgiving of interruption as a roomba. Researcher Kjeld Jensen also suggested applying the same technology to your grandmother's wheelchair, but we really don't think she'd appreciate that. See it for yourself in the video after the break.[Via Switched]
Danish police respond to gunfire reports ... was only PS3
Like to play shooters with the volume at full blast? Sure, that home theater setup might give stellar surround sound and it can even make things sound as real as possible, but it could also land you into a lot of trouble. Take the case of two 21-year old gamers from Valby, Denmark for example; just over the weekend, the boys were detained by Danish authorities who were responding to gunfire reports in the neighborhood. Neighbors mistook the gunshots heard from the boys' "PlayStation game" as actual gunfire and reciprocated with emergency calls to the police authorities. The volume was turned up so loud that the boys could not initially hear the police calling out to them via megaphone. Luckily, no one got hurt when the boys were finally detained. The cops searched the apartment, found no weapons and came to the conclusion that the noises were coming from the game playing on the television. The two were allowed back into their apartment without any further incident.So what have we learned today, children? That gaming has become such a viscerally real experience that its world of imagination can be misconstrued as real. Oh, and make sure to keep the volume at a moderate level, please.[Via N4G]
EVE Online player loses USD 19,000 in shady virtual currency deal
The sci-fi game EVE Online is set apart from many other massively multiplayer online games by its economy. While there are currently problems with the game's market due to a serious exploit, the economy isn't getting reset anytime soon. The currency of EVE's virtual economy is the Inter Stellar Kredit (ISK). As in the real world, money can be power in EVE's 'New Eden' galaxy. Most online games built around a virtual economy will ultimately need to deal with the real money trading (RMT) issue -- either make it a bannable offense or support and regulate it in some way. CCP Games figured if RMT is happening whether they want it to or not, they may as well have some way to regulate it. EVE Online has a few legitimate ways to bring real world money into the game. Game Time Cards (EVE Time Codes) can be converted to ISK without risk of getting your teeth banhammered in by CCP Games. They offer a secure way to sell game time to players where neither party can be scammed, and more recently a way to turn game time into an item (PLEX) that can be sold on the open market in-game. When a player buys that item, he or she extends their account subscription. The upside for some players is that they can actually pay their subscription fees in the ISK they've earned in-game, for others it enables them to buy a faction battleship or a number of other virtual items.But... some people just go too far with all this, and buy ISK in huge amounts. Even worse is doing so outside of the EULA-safe methods. This was the case with an EVE player in Denmark, who paid 100,000 Danish Krones (the rough equivalent of 13,500 Euros or USD 19,000) for currency from a shady ISK seller outside of the secure system, and was ultimately left with empty pockets, even after the case ended up in court.
Renegade Roomba trips home alarm, cops underwhelmed upon arrival
Note to Roomba owners -- shut that bad boy off before leaving the house and arming the alarm system. In what we can only imagine was a pretty comical scene, a runaway Roomba in a Denmark home tripped the motion sensors after it acted on its itch to suck up a few pints of dust and debris while its owners were out on the town. Once the alarm was tripped, authorities were automatically phoned in to see what kind of shenanigans were going on. Needless to say, it proved difficult to charge the innocent looking autovac with breaking and entering, but we hear it has been tagged and given a parole officer just in case it tries to cut loose in the future.[Thanks, morten]
Android-powered HTC phones headed to Nordic lands next summer
While most Danes are more concerned with securing a Snuggie right now than securing a next-generation handset, we do have some stellar news for those waiting in tense anticipation for Android to head that way. According to HTC's Peter Frølund, at least one Android-powered handset will be coming to Denmark next summer. In fact, he's quoted as saying that "one or more Android products" will land in all of the Nordic countries simultaneously, though he couldn't get any more specific than that. Bonus Snuggie coverage after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
TouchDiva: the greatest entertainment device you've never heard of
Now, we're sure that everything's on the up and up here, but the lack of information about the TouchDiva from any source other than the makers of the TouchDiva gives us pause, especially as the product's apparently launching on December 1st. Regardless, here's what we've gathered: the device is a 15.4-inch touchscreen unit you install in your home, and, via the magical wonders of the internet, you get all the music your heart could ever desire, free of charge -- besides the $75 $13 monthly subscription fee, of course. The Danish manufacturers claim to have "agreements with the four major music companies in the world (Warner, EMI, Sony-BMG and Universal)," giving them access to over 2 million songs. Housed inside the unit are two 125W ICEpower (Bang & Olufsen-manufactured) amps, and the Diva itself has just two buttons -- an on / off, and a reset, giving it a pretty stark exterior. As you can probably imagine, it's um, not cheap -- in fact, you're going to have to cough up $6,000 $1,100 if you want one, and you'll have to live in Europe, where the device is (supposedly) about to go on sale. Update: As a few commenters have pointed out, the prices are in Danish Kroner, and we've updated to reflect that. Read - Danish invention will change music salesRead - TouchDiva[Thanks, Soren]
