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Visualized: the history of the Formula 1 car in 60 seconds (video)
Formula 1 car technology has come a long way since it first hit the asphalt banks 62 years ago. It's been hard to convey the sheer amount of change in a succinct way, but Rufus Blacklock may have nailed it in exactly one minute. Abstract versions of the cars show us the progression from the bullet-shaped cars of the 1950's through to the low-slung, wing-laden beasts we know today. If the clip is a little too F1-fast, there's also an infographic that details exactly when certain technology changes came into play, starting with the first wings in 1968 through to modern (and at times controversial) introductions like KERS in 2009. Click past the break for the video, and check out the relevant source link for a quite literal big picture.
DRS unveils trio of ruggedized tablets in Windows and Android flavors
Drops, shocks, heavy vibrations, dust, water and temperatures in the extremes -- just the kind of punishment you'd expect a DRS Armor slab to put up with, and the firm's latest do so without the briefcase-like look. With MIL-STD 810G certification and an IP65 rating, the 7-inch multi-touch slates can withstand some rough and tumble -- though there's no word if they can pass the tesla coil benchmark. At 1.3 pounds, the Android 3.2-loaded X7ad squeezes out eight hours of battery life with a 1GHz dual core Tegra 2 processor. Its Windows-minded doppelganger, the X7et, holds a six-hour charge, sports an Atom Z670 processor and tips the scales at just under 1.5 pounds. If the chunkier look strikes your fancy, the 12.1 inch X12kb has you covered -- though at 5.5 pounds, it's the lightest MIL-STD-810G certified convertible tablet currently available. The swivel screened slate has up to eight hours of battery life, a Core i5 560UMCPU processor, a polarized LCD glass display, a spillproof keyboard and touchpad in addition to a one-click stealth mode that disables light and sound for "covert operations." With GPS, WiFi and Gobi Wireless Broadband options, all three of these are ready for missions at home and abroad, however you might need that stealth function to find out the (currently unspecified) pricing.
DRS Armor X10gx gets a handle on military-grade tablet technology, specs it slightly shy
DRS' latest ARMOR tablet hasn't quite gotten with the times; the new X10gx sports the same 10.4-inch resistive display, a similar 1.2GHz processor and lags behind consumer products in RAM (2GB) and storage (64GB) almost as badly as predecessors two years prior. The badass quotient, however, has gone through the roof... as this magnesium-shelled puppy is now MIL-STD-810G, IP67 and UL1604 certified. To translate that in layman terms, you can (and they did) drop this 4.7 pound Windows 7 tablet from four feet dozens of times, throw it in a meter-deep pool of water and subject it to sub-freezing, sweltering and potentially explosive environments, all while still accepting standard-height 2.5-inch hard drives. Other features for worthy warriors include integrated GPS, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, optional Gobi broadband and the ability to attach external antennas to each, plus hot-swappable 2400mAh batteries to minimize downtime. Smart card, TPM module and fingerprint scanners come standard, of course, and in a singular gesture to the consumer world, there is one HDMI port. No word on price, but given the construction of these machines, we're not going to pry -- it had just better be competitive with Panasonic's $3,400 device.
Digital Rosetta Stone memory could last a thousand years
The race for bigger and better memory continues apace, it seems. It was only a week or two ago that we caught wind of the work that scientists in Berkeley were doing with nanotubes and thousand-year-plus memory lifespans, and now it looks like a group of researchers in Japan have made some headway using an electron-beam direct-writing technique that utilizes semiconductor devices that can keep data intact for a thousand years, so long as humidity is kept at 2% or less. The prototype Digital Rosetta Stone, developed by Keio University, Kyoto University, and Sharp, has a storage capacity of 2.5TB and a max transmission speed of 150Mbps. Of course, there's no telling if or when this will become a reality, so if you want to ensure that your adolescent poetry lasts for the next thousand years, you'd better print out your MySpace blog and have it carved in granite.[Via TechShout]
DRS intros rugged ARMOR C12 convertible, X10 tablet PC
Just in case Dell's Latitude XFR D630 was too mainstream for you, DRS Tactical Systems has a pair of equally tough rigs for you to chew on. Up first is the ARMOR C12 convertible (shown above), which packs a 12.1-inch outdoor readable touchscreen, 1.2GHz ULV U1400 CPU, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB shock-mounted HDD, full-sized keyboard, integrated WiFi, Ethernet, PCMCIA, a biometric scanner and a die-cast magnesium case built to pass MIL-STD-810F / IP54 standards. As for the ARMOR X10 tablet (pictured after the jump), you'll find a 1.2GHz U2500 Core Duo processor, an optional 16GB SSD, 10.4-inch sunlight readable display, Bluetooth and many of the same highlights seen on the aforementioned C12. No word on a price for either at the moment, but trust us, you'll pay a pretty penny for a machine that just begs for pain. [Warning: PDF read link]
