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Ford's next 'City of Tomorrow' is Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ford's investment in the Mitten State isn't over. Last week the company announced that it was transforming the aging Michigan Central Station in Detroit into an innovation hub for things like autonomous vehicles and smart cities. Today, the automaker is 130 miles west in Grand Rapids to reveal the $100,000 Grand Rapids City of Tomorrow Challenge -- a way to crowdsource solutions to Michigan's second largest city's mounting traffic and mobility woes.
Michigan's manufacturing past is fueling its tech future
Michigan's struggles have played out on the world's stage. Just after the turn of the century began what's referred to as the state's lost decade; the economy faltered, oil prices skyrocketed and the housing market crashed. Nearly a million jobs left the state between 2000 and 2013, many of them in manufacturing and the automotive industry. For a state of just under 10 million people, the impact was devastating: Unemployment was higher than the national average by more than four percent. Bailouts for Chrysler and General Motors were followed by Detroit's record-setting municipal bankruptcy, but through grit and determination, Michigan started clawing its way back from the brink. Now multimillion-dollar investments in the city from tech titans like Amazon, Facebook and LG make headlines with startling frequency, and a host of tech startups have begun to fill the gaps left by plant closures.
Stepping into the Polaroid Matrix at Maker Faire (video)
Sometimes it's the simplest questions that lead to the most important innovation -- other times it's more that they're just plain fun to answer. Take the one asked by Grand Rapids, MI-artist, Sam Blanchard: what would the Wachowski Brothers' bullet-time effect look like, were it shot on, say 20 Polaroids, instead of a room full of expensive digital devices? The answer, naturally, can be found in the Polaroid Matrix, a circle of cameras on display at Maker Faire in New York, this weekend. The Kickstarter success story arranges the cameras into a circle -- a subject can be sat in the middle, or the cameras can be oriented outward, to take a panorama of the surrounding environment. Once the rig is fired up, the cameras make that familiar Polaroid warm up hum -- times 20. The actual photographing happens almost in an instant, with 20 flashes. The photographer walks around the circle and collects 20 photos, which are bound into a photographic flipbook. Check out a video of the Polaroid Matrix in action, after the jump.%Gallery-134201%
Comcast throws in ten HD channels in Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids just got eight high-def channels in mid-December, but already the cable carrier is adding ten more in order to keep the competition fierce between it and AT&T. As of now, locals can find Travel HD (183), MGM HD (216), Spike HD (HD), Nick HD (228), Toon Disney HD (238), Lifetime HD (239), Fuse HD (250), ESPN HD (257), IFC HD (260) and WE HD (261). Not bad Comcast, not bad at all.[Thanks, Corey]
Comcast adds eight HD channels in Grand Rapids, MI
What's up with this end-of-year glut of high-def channels? Seriously, it's like someone informed every cable carrier in America that it could get extra tax deductions if they hosted up a few more stations before the year's end -- not that we're complaining. Jason from Grand Rapids, Michigan has written in to inform us (and you) that eight new ones have arrived on his Comcast EPG. Biography HD (180), Planet Green HD (210), FOX News HD (214), Lifetime Movie Network HD (221), SPEED HD (223), FX HD (224), E! HD (225) and Cartoon Network HD (227) are all go for viewing, and all's that left for you to do is make it through the torrential snowstorms from work so you can actually watch 'em.[Thanks, Jason]
AT&T talks Total Home DVR rollouts in seven new, not so new areas
We already know you love AT&T's Total Home DVR service, but for whatever reason the company's been less than forthcoming about where and when its hitting across the country. Likely spurred on by our coverage (or maybe not) the latest press release breaks down the seven markets currently feeling the joy of multiple HD stream recording and sharing wash over them like rain, or a particularly refreshing soda. U-verse users in Atlanta, Cleveland, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Reno and Sacramento should all have access to the free software upgrade as of today. Press release is after the break, any areas still missing from the official count?
DISH Network gets official with summer / fall HD locals
Remember those 20-some-odd cities we heard were getting HD locals via DISH Network earlier this year? Yeah, the satcaster has just now gotten around to confirming what we already knew, but it's good to have something to hold 'em to, regardless. As of today, Grand Rapids, Michigan and Memphis, Tennessee can both look forward to seeing their local channels in high-definition, while 22 other markets are on the clock. As for timing, all we know is that these 22 will be launched sometime during summer / fall of 2008, but it looks like you'll be waiting patiently to find out if your market is closer to going live now or later. Tap the read link for the full list of locales.
West Michigan becomes latest region to get AT&T's U-verse
Not quite three months after AT&T took U-verse to the Motor City comes word that more of Michigan can now tap the aforementioned company for phone, internet and fiber-based TV service. As of now, 40 local communities in West Michigan -- including Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Holland and Kalamazoo -- can call up the carrier in order to get U-verse in their home. The provider also notes that those who are just out of reach right now should keep checking in, as it plans to make the service available "to more homes throughout the area on an ongoing basis."
All-aluminum Front Runner hydrofoil watercraft plays in the kiddie pool
Sure, it's no USS Ronald Reagan, but Joey Ruiter's conceptual Front Runner is one sweet ride if you're looking to exercise 215-horsepower on a slick body of water. Shown at the recently concluded Grand Rapids Boat Show in Michigan, the designer unveiled his latest concept watercraft, a hydrofoil with "twin forward-mounted jet-drive motors." The futuristic design is fairly easy on the eyes, and would certainly garner quite a bit of positive attention skimming across the shallow end at your local YMCA. Aside from being crafted entirely of aluminum without a hint of glue holding anything together, the unique construction allows the boat to cruise in "extremely shallow water," which could definitely brighten up an extremely rainy day if you're in a low-lying area. Still, we've no idea if Joey has plans to commercialize this gem, but if he adds a hovering feature in the near future, count us onboard.
