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US Navy to arm its submarines with 'Blackwing' spy drones
The Navy recently announced its plans to deploy an armada of stealthy spy drones from AeroVironment aboard its submarines and UUVs. Specifically, the Navy is going with the small-form "Blackwing" UAV, a four-pound flyer with a 20 inch wingspan that collapses down to fit into a 3-inch diameter launch tube. It will use its array of electro-optical and infrared sensors as well as its anti-spoofing GPS capability to act as the submersible's remote eyes and ears.
OSCar eO build finally finished, electric offroader prepares for the mountains of South America
It's been a few months since we first heard about OSCar eO and its plans to tackle the (arguably) most difficult task in motorsport: make it from the start of the Dakar Rally to the finish. Well, the race starts in about a month and a half, and the Latvian team building the rugged EV has finally finished its arduous task. Aside from countless welds to create a formidable frame, there was also plenty of wiring and programming involved in getting the range-extended EV ready for the coming off-road battle. Winston Battery packs provide 52kWh of juice to the electric motor, which can produce up to a massive 335kW of power on command. Should a lead-footed driver tap into that tire-shredding ability too much, a 60kW generator driven by a Nissan V6 is there to pick up the slack. You may be wondering just how hard it is to build a machine that can conquer the Andes while powered by humble electrons? Find out for yourself in the video after the break. [Thanks, John]
OSCar eO will bring EVs to the Dakar rally (video)
The Dakar is the most grueling race in the world and, while that historic location is no longer the destination, the race itself still serves as the most brutal punishment a car (or bike) can take. If you can cover 5,500 miles across some of the roughest terrain in the world you know you built it right. The Rīga Rally-Raid Team has done just that in the past, and for its next attempt it'll make things more interesting with a series hybrid powertrain. Its car is called the OSCar eO, an EV with enough batteries to make it between 150 and 300km on a charge. However, most Dakar stages are well longer than that, so the car also carries an on-board generator, a Nissan-sourced engine fueled by a 200 liter fuel tank. That's 53 gallons worth of the good stuff to keep this thing going over the kind of terrain you can see in the video below, with regenerative dampers helping to add juice as well. Will the whole contraption make it all the way to Dakar Lima? We're hopeful, but then again we all know how well sand and electronics get along.
TabletKiosk rises from the ashes, pops Atom CPUs into hideous new UMPC / tablet line
Sheesh -- whatever happened to TabletKiosk, anyway? Aside from one random slate PC tailored for the medical industry, we haven't seen anything meaningful from these guys since 2008. And yes, that includes the present day. Oh sure, the company's newest trifecta of machines -- which includes the 7-inch eo a7330D, 7-inch eo TufTab a7230XD and 12.1-inch Sahara NetSlate a230T -- may use the incredibly mighty Atom CPU now, but that doesn't change the fact that they're all uglier than sin itself. In fairness, all three are designed more for the enterprise market than for fashion conscious consumers, but still, we're struggling to see any design improvements here compared to the wares this outfit was pushing way back in 2007. If you truly believe that beauty's on the inside, hit the read link for all the dirt.[Via HotHardware]
How to add an internal USB hub to a UMPC
If you've been hankering for a way to void your UMPC warranty, or just want to add a touch more utility while getting down and dirty with a soldering iron, this here hack may be the one that fits the bill. Facing the daunting task of shoving an internal USB hub into the already cramped confines of a TabletKiosk eo, thoughtfix managed to not only burn his fingers, add a few ventilation holes, and sharpen those wiring skills, but he also stuffed a three-port USB hub within his UMPC. Apparently, the internal WiFi / Bluetooth module's USB interface can be tapped into to provide a way for a hub to be installed, and while two of the three ports remain open, a 2GB Sony Micro Vault Tiny was plugged into one connector for ReadyBoost usage. 'Course, the actual process of rigging this up is far too complicated for this space, but if you're feelin' froggy, jump on down and give the read link a bit of your time.[Via Hack-A-Day]
TabletKiosk announces eo and Sahara TufTab portables
TabletKiosk has two new portables, the eo TufTab v7112XT, and Sahara TufTab i310XT. From the UMPC side you can expect the eo TufTab v7112XT (above) to have a 1.2GHz VIA CPU, 1GB of RAM, 7-inch LED backlit display, 40GB drive, and camera in a 2 pound, 1.14-inch thick unit. The Sahara TufTab i310XT has a 1GHz Celeron M, 512MB of RAM, 60GB drive, and 12.8-inch 1280 x 800 touchscreen in a 1.5-inch thick 3.5 pound unit. Both share 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, SDIO and PC card slots, fingerprint reader, and the usual ports, and should ship in mid April.[Via MobilitySite]
TabletKiosk announces eo i7209 and i7210 UMPCs
Looks like the eo V7110 isn't the only UMPC TabletKiosk has in its vault; their new eo i7209 and i7210 are rebadges of the Founder device with marginally better specs than the v7110 before them, but also heftier prices to boot. The i7210 features a 1GHz ULV Pentium M, 1GB DDR2 RAM, and a 60GB drive, while the i7209 features a piddling 900MHZ ULV Celeron M, 512MB DDR2 RAM, and 30GB drive; both feature Intel 915GMS embedded graphics, a 1.3 megapixel camera, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 card reader, and a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen display in a 8.8 x 5.6 x 1-inch, 1.83 pound slate. Certainly a step up from the VIA C7-based eo offered at $900, but you'll also have to pay for those specs at either $1,100 or $1,400 when these two loosed at the end of August Weigh your options wisely, UMPC-goers, you know how we feel about prices this steep for devices of this ilk.[Via GottaBeMobile, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
TabletKiosk recalls eo UMPCs
Ouch -- first the issues with the fans grinding against the chassis on the eo kept TabletKiosk's UMPC out of the hands of consumers until just recently, but now those early adopters who finally have their eo v7110 are being asked to part with theirs in a voluntary recall due to a "battery life that did not perform as advertised." Battery life not as long as advertised in a UMPC? Welcome to the club, TabletKiosk. (We kid, we kid!) At least peeps won't be without their machines more than 72 hours (or so TK claims), and for their trouble they're offering 25% off "any single eo accessory." Well, gee, thanks. But hey, good on TabletKiosk for nipping this in the bud early instead of pretending the problem didn't exist until consumers either shut up or stopped buying.
TabletKiosk eo UMPC delayed until June-ish
If you were one of those early-adopter types who pre-ordered your TabletKiosk eo V7110 UMPC, then you've probably already received the bad news. After selling-out their "entire initial production" stock (is that 10 or 10,000 units?), TabletKiosk is officially delaying what would have been the first UMPC to market with "most orders fulfilled by the beginning of June." It seems those first eos suffered a problem whereby the system fan was striking the unit's back panel which now must undergo a "slight redesign." We can only assume this affects shipments of the SmartCaddie in Japan and the It's UMPC version we've seen floating about France as well. Alas they won't be the first, but at least TabletKiosk will have the distinction of being the cheapest UMPC on the market come June.[Via cNet News]
