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Verizon's ZTE-built Jetpack 890L 4G hotspot ships May 24th, promises globetrotting for $20
Verizon has just finished trotting out the last of its known 2012 Jetpack hotspots through the arrival of the ZTE-made model we saw back at CES in January. Now carrying a bit more Verizon red on the surface and a bit less Chinese in the name, the Jetpack 890L can share its 4G LTE sugar with as many as 10 WiFi devices at once. There's no removable battery like its Novatel-made Jetpack cousin, but you do get Global Ready (read: HSPA) roaming abroad. We're most liking the price. At $20 on a contract after a $50 mail-in rebate, the 890L will be the most frugal way to board the LTE hotspot train once it reaches stores on May 24th.
Jetman soars over Rio, flies circles around historical landmarks (video)
Why would you want to leap out of a perfectly good aircraft? To fly a winged jetpack over the city of Rio de Janeiro, of course. It sounds nuts, but it's just a day in the life for Yves Rossy, the self proclaimed "Jetman" who flew over the Grand Canyon last year. Since soaring over the Rio Grande, Rossy has pitted his carbon-fiber wings against a rally car on Top Gear, taken to the skies over Abu Dhabi and, most recently, buzzed Brazil's famous Christ the Redeemer statue. Jetman rocketed past the monument on an 11 minute flight earlier this week, beginning his journey by dropping out of a helicopter over Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. Rossy pulled his Rocketeer trick and eventually parachuted to safety on Copacabana beach. Sound fun? Head past the break to see the man in action. Us? We'll keep our feet planted on terra firma, thanks.
Verizon gets new prepaid plans, adds Jetpack hotspot to contract-free lineup
And just like that Verizon has revamped its prepaid pricing structure. Starting tomorrow, May 1st, the carrier will be offering unlimited talk and text packaged with 1GB of data for $80 a month. The new offering will be available first with the Samsung Illusion, a disappointingly 3G handset, though, one that wont demand a two year commitment to Big Red. Verizon is also adding the Jetpack MiFi 4510L LTE mobile hotspot to its contract-free offerings for $130. Prepaid plans for the 4G wireless hotspot start at $15 for 250 MB a week, but quickly climb to $60 and $90 for 3GB and 10GB, respectively. For more info check out the PR after the break.
Verizon confirms Jetpack MiFi 4620L will be available April 12th for $50 on-contract
It's taken considerably longer to roll out than the few weeks that were promised back at CES in January, but Verizon has now confirmed that the Novatel-built, LTE-capable Jetpack MiFi 4620L will be available on April 12th for $49.99. That's on the usual two-year contract, of course, and after a $50 mail-in rebate. In addition to supporting up to ten WiFi connection, it also notably has a removable battery that can be swapped out for a higher capacity 3000mAh unit (double the capacity of the included the one). Look for it at Verizon stores and Verizon's website initially, with a roll out to Best Buy locations following shortly thereafter.Update: We've received word that the Jetpack has begun arriving at reseller locations, and if you ask nicely you might just be able to take one home early.
Verizon's ZTE Jetpack flies through FCC, arrival time still unknown
Do you wish you had your own personal Jetpack? Well, you may not have to wait much longer for ZTE's version -- the EuFi I890, announced at CES last month -- to come out, if its entry into the records of the FCC are any indication. It may not be the kind that you strap onto your back, but at least this one takes advantage of Verizon's LTE, and it happens to add in CDMA / EVDO and AT&T-compatible 3G radios. We knew the 4G-packing MiFi was going to hit stores in "the coming weeks," so this is essentially just one step closer to achieving that goal -- unfortunately, we still don't have a solid date yet. Hit the source link if you're into digging through government documents.
Verizon's ZTE Jetpack hands-on
Verizon launched two new mobile hotspots at CES, both called Jetpack. We found the ZTE entry -- the Verizon device has all the branding -- and gave it a quick once over. The device itself is quite big for a mobile hotspot, measuring 88mm x 88mm x 18mm, though finish and materials are slick. The menu system is easy to use, buttons responsive, and as seen in the pic above lets you get at settings, SMS messages, and a quick heads up as to how many of the 10 supported clients are currently connected. Power on and off is controlled by a sliding switch, rather than an on off button, which we think is a great idea. Have a gander at the gallery for some more shots.
Verizon introduces two Jetpack 'global ready' 4G LTE mobile hotspots
Verizon Wireless is releasing a pair of worldwide mobile hotspots from ZTE and Novatel Wireless, both called the Jetpack. Not confusing at all, eh? At any rate, the Novatel-sourced MiFi 4620L is the larger of the two (3.76- x 2.36- x 0.53-inches; shown after the break), supporting quad-band EDGE and HSPA technology. It's capable of sharing 4G LTE and 3G with up to ten WiFi-enabled devices, and it also touts an OLED display that allows customers to scroll through menu options, check security settings, view battery life and manage connected devices at any given time. Customers in the US can expect download rates between 5Mbps and 12Mbps when located in an LTE zone, and the "global" aspect allows 'em to enjoy wireless data service in more than 205 countries, including more than 125 with 3G speeds (for a princely sum, naturally). Over on the ZTE side, the cube-styled EuFi890 (3.49- x 3.49- x 0.70-inches; pictured after the break) also offers an OLED display, and there's an interactive keypad to help manage connections and settings and to display data usage alerts. Regrettably, we've no pricing details to share, but the new LTE duo should hit VZW stores "in the coming weeks."
Deep Black Online coming to PC this summer
It's not every day that we get to tell you about a new MMOTPS (that's third-person shooter, if you're wondering), so without further delay: Hey guys, check out this new MMOTPS! It's called Deep Black, though we're wondering why it's not called Deep Blue since much of the action apparently takes place underwater and in the air via various forms of jetpack. Don't worry, land-lubbers, there's plenty of action on terra firma as well. The title is being developed by Biart Studio, a Russian outfit headquartered in the Moscow equivalent of Silicon Valley, and the game will feature "fully customizable [character] appearance, more than 30 types of sci-fi weapons, and three game modes at launch," according to a Biart press release. The game is a F2P instanced shooter featuring eight to 24 players, and it's coming to a PC near you in the near future. You can check out our sister site's Deep Black reveal from last summer, and you'll also want to head to the game's official website to learn more.
Global Agenda celebrates F2P success with jetpack use in Dome City
After a substantial wait and numerous requests from the community, Hi-Rez Studios has finally granted one of the most-wanted wishes of Global Agenda players: the ability to use their jetpacks in Dome City. The addition, the studio says, comes as a token of celebration for the recent success of Global Agenda's switch to a free-to-play model as well as a nod of appreciation for the players who have helped support the game with the purchase of booster packs (which grant double XP, credits, tokens, additional loot drops, and a daily allowance of 2000 tokens). What does this mean for the players who purchase the booster packs required to unlock jetpack use within the city? Well, honestly not much except for slightly more expeditious travel around Dome City, which operates as the game's social hub between bouts of players ruthlessly murdering one another. Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris does note, however, that now that aerial travel is possible in Dome City, the studio plans to release "some penthouse level content in future updates." The upcoming patch 1.43 goes live tomorrow and also includes some general bug fixes and improvements. Full details on the new feature and complete patch notes for 1.43 can be found on the official site.
Water-propelled jetpack is no dream, can be yours for $99,500 this March (video)
It's taken a long time since that 2005 patent was filed for, but Raymond Li is now finally ready to bring his water-propelled jetpack to the money-spending world. Nailing down a March 2011 launch date and a price of $99,500 hasn't been easy for the inventor, who says his efforts to procure capital and prototyping quotations were mostly met with incredulity -- "almost everyone thought I was crazy." His JetLev personal transporter relies on an engine and fuel tank (which remain on the water's surface) to pump H20 into a backpack that then shoots out streams of the drinkable stuff to keep your airborne. Top speed is 22MPH, max height is nearly 33 feet, and the fun factor is somewhere off the scale, whether you're talking metric or imperial. Levitate past the break for a video demonstration. [Thanks, Suraj]
Updated: On the tenth day of giveaways, NCsoft gave to me...
[UPDATE: All winners have been selected and contacted. Congratulations!] On the tenth day of giveaways, NCsoft gave to me... ten game expansions! On the ninth day of giveaways, Funcom gave to me... nine ladies lamenting! On the eighth day of giveaways, SOE gave to me... eight Station Cash cards! On the seventh day of giveaways, Kingsisle gave to me... seven Epic Cards! On the sixth day of giveaways, Nexon gave to me... six Vindictus packs! On the fifth day of giveaways, Mythic gave to me... five upgrade codes! On the fourth day of giveaways, ChangYou gave to me... four welcome gifts! On the third day of giveaways, Icarus gave to me... three months of gameplay! On the second day of giveaways, Hi-Rez gave to me... two gift packages! On the first day of giveaways, Turbine gave to me... a lifetime VIP! If you're a fan of NCsoft MMOs, you know that they feature some great holiday events. The developer teams for all of the games throw out decorations, quests, special events, and gifts galore. There's more, though! The Aion team added double crafting XP to the holiday events, Lady Winter is running around City of Heroes bent on mischief, Wintersday has arrived to Guild Wars with some new events, and we've got some awesome gifts from all three games under the 12 Days of Giveaways tree! NCsoft gave us 10 Aion gift packages, each containing a copy of Aion's Assault on Balaurea and a code for a variety of bonus pets. We also received 10 City of Heroes gift packages! Each CoH pack contains the Going Rogue Complete Collection and a 30-day jet pack code. On the Guild Wars front we have a little something extra: fifteen Balthazar and Melandru costume codes! We've got five Melandru costumes, five Balthazar costumes, and five complete sets! Ten Aion fans, 10 CoH fans, and 15 Guild Wars fans are about to have a very good day! All you need to do to enter is tell us which game is your favorite and what hooked you. Enter by Thursday at 6:00 p.m. EST, check our contest rules, and good luck!
Yves Rossy's jetpack loops a hot air balloon, looks great doing it (video)
Looks like Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy is back to the, well, daredeviltry. On November 5, 2010, the self-described Jetman lept off a platform attached to the side of the Esprit Breitling Orbiter hot air balloon and, after reaching an altitude of 2,400 meters (7,874 feet), came back to loop around the thing twice. He was aided in his endeavor by a new, smaller wing (two meters across) with four jets, and executed the maneuvers using only his body movements to steer. Afterward, he deployed his parachute and landed in Denezy, in the Swiss canton of Vaud. We might also add that we tried to get one of these devices for an Engadget Show giveaway, but our lawyers seem to think it's a terrible idea. Video after the break.
Fight another universe via jetpack, courtesy Massively and NCsoft!
What's better than fighting for truth, justice, and the American way? Jetpacks, obviously! And with Praetoria looming on the horizon of City of Heroes, now's the best time to strap a rocket to your back! Our universe needs more rocketeering men and women to defend us from the evil, yet-really-not-evil-more-like-misunderstood universe! If putting a giant flame that close to your rear sounds like a good idea to you, then skip along after the break where, thanks to NCsoft, we're giving away 20 City of Heroes 30-day temporary jetpack powers!
Global Agenda's newest dev blog talks Sandstorm
The development team at Hi-Rez Studios has released a new dev blog focusing on the upcoming changes to their Global Agenda MMOFPS. Codenamed Sandstorm, the updates will begin reaching the live servers in early June. Phase I of the patch, now in public testing, features a host of additions and improvements including new epic weapons, a new loot and token system, new PvP maps, new PvE missions, and new social features. "So if you're looking at the patch notes for 1.3, you're probably saying to yourself 'holy crap they changed every aspect of the game,'" says Executive Producer Todd Harris. "We wanted to preserve all the good balanced combat, but also add a layer of device variety and new variety that our MMO players are looking for." Check out the dev blog over at the official site or embedded after the cut.
Battlefield Heroes gets jetpacks, new map and new game mode
DICE's freemium FPS, Battlefield Heroes, has had its finger on the pulse of what's hip for quite some time now. It offered content for sad MJ fans when the King of Pop passed away and even implemented some supernatural content when that New Moon flick came out. Then there was the latest stuff celebrating the release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. DICE clearly hasn't forgotten about its baby and now, for its three million and growing userbase, it's offering a trio of new goodies, headlined by the new in vogue multiplayer item: jetpacks. Players will use the jetpacks on a map called Midnight Mayhem, which sports a brand-new game mode called V2 Vengeance -- players must battle to capture and control a giant rocket. The content is available right now, so head on over to the Battlefield Heroes site if you want to throw down.
Martin Jetpack priced at $86,000, mere mortals will soon be able to buy one too
Tired of the limited legroom, bad food, and worse movies you have to put up with during a flight? Well, it's time to bust out your company credit card and get yourself a Martin Jetpack, which has just become the first commercially available jetpack. Driven by a pair of washing machine-sized fans strapped to your back, this personal transporter will give you a pretty cool 30 minutes of flight time and comes with a bunch of redundancy systems to ensure any mistakes don't turn fatal. The rotors are built out of a carbon / Kevlar composite and are powered by a two-liter V4 two-stroke engine capable of delivering 200hp (or 150kW). Good old gasoline is the fuel of choice here and private individuals are expected to be offered the chance to fulfill every geek and geekette's dream later this year. Just make sure you have $86,000 lying around to fund it.
New Dark Void trailer kills robots by land and sky
We appreciate the helpful tips provided in the Dark Void trailer you see above, which instructs its viewers on the many options afforded to them when it comes to staving off hordes of robotic assailants. Like, it's great to know that we can choose between popping between cover points on the ground or fly through the air using a futuristic hover pack, shooting dudes as we float. However, who in their right mind would ever exercise the first option when the second is available? Check out the video above to see the dichotomy in motion, and don't forget: The only time you shouldn't go with the hoverpack is if there's an even cooler jetpack somewhere nearby. %Gallery-24248%
Play Capcom's 2D Jetpack Attack while you wait for Dark Void
Sure, Capcom's vertical-shootin', UFO-jackin', jetpack-flyin' third-person shooter Dark Void won't be landing on retail shelves until January 12, but the developer wants you to spend some time with Will (and The Void) beforehand. If you head over to JetpackAttack.com, you can create and play levels in your browser of a significantly pared down Dark Void spinoff game, Jetpack Attack. After blasting our way through the first level, we didn't exactly find ourselves thirsting for more, though it did (no matter how small the scale) sate our urge for some jetpacking action. And hey, if worse comes to worse, you could always trade it in for gold, right? %Gallery-24248%
Martin Jetpack public test flights taking off in early 2010
Those crazy Kiwis at Martin Jetpack like to pop in every now and then to show off their eponymous flying craft, and though we still don't have a timeframe for plunking down $150,000 to own one and donning our best Boba Fett costume for the inaugural flight home, the company is making accommodations. Starting early next year in its hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, you'll be able to try out the flight pack yourself as part of the Martin Jetpack Experience. The "low, slow" thrill ride won't hover above 3.3 feet or go faster than 6.2 miles per hour, but according to The New Zealand Herald, it's only expected to cost about as much as bungie jumping, and if you ask really nicely, we're sure they won't mind you wearing the costume anyway.
Massively's top four upcoming MMOs that let you fly
The ability to fly has always intrigued us as humans. Even in Leonardo da Vinci's day, the fascination with flight was so overwhelming that he dedicated much of his life to the discovery of getting us off the ground. Modern(ish) technology has helped us realize da Vinci's vision, through the use of enclosed vehicles or other large mechanical contraptions, but we have yet to truly master the art of personal flight.This is where games can be more than just a way to have some fun; they can be a way to live vicariously through our avatars. As in-game art gets more and more realistic -- especially in scenery and lighting effects -- we can visit lands that we wouldn't ordinarily be able to, for a much smaller hit to our wallets. In-game flight is becoming very popular lately as we've noticed a certain influx of upcoming games with this feature. Not only can you fly in these games, but you don't need much to do so. Much like Second's Life's wildly popular avatar flight feature, these new games let you take to the skies without the use of a mount. Follow along after the jump as we showcase four upcoming MMOs that use personal flight as a feature.