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Martin Jetpack hits the 5,000 feet milestone, could come to market within 18 months (video)
OK, so the Martin Jetpack may not have gone into commercial production quite as soon as we'd anticipated, but there's still hope on the horizon. Over the weekend, Glenn Martin's flying machine successfully climbed some 5,000 feet above sea level, marking a new milestone in the 30-year, $12 million project. Remotely controlled by a tailing helicopter, the 250-pound craft used its two "superfans" to power itself skyward at about 800 feet per second minute, before safely parachuting back to Earth from a height of about 3,000 feet. As with its last test run, however, the Martin Jetpack was equipped not with a human being, but with a crash dummy. It may have been for the best, though, considering that the machine sustained some damage upon concluding the ten-minute flight. Nevertheless, Martin seems confident that yesterday's test "brings the future another step closer," and is hoping to deliver his brainchild to customers within the next 18 months -- plenty of time for us to hawk enough family heirlooms to afford that $86,000 price tag. Soar past the break for a video of the jetpack's big launch, or check out the source link for a more extensive interview with Martin and some background footage of his invention. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Climbing robot can scale walls on a supersonic stream of air, won't leave fingerprints behind
There are plenty of wall climbing robots roaming the Earth, but few can scale heights as gracefully as this little guy can. Developed by researchers at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, this bot can wind its way across any glass, metal or cloth terrain, without even touching its pods to the surface. The secret lies in Bernoulli's Principle, which states that as the speed of a fluid increases, its pressure decreases. This phenomenon also applies to streams of air, which, when moving at high speeds around of a circular gripper, can create a vacuum strong enough to hold things without actually touching them. In this case, air shoots out of the robot's feet at more than 2,000 miles per hour, creating enough pressure to lift the craft, while holding it close to the wall. The technology isn't new, but rarely can it support the weight of an entire device -- let alone the extra cargo that this climber's non-contact adhesive pads can hold. Researchers say the supersonic grippers will be available in "some months" and will probably cost "a few hundred dollars." As for the bot itself, Canterbury's engineers envision it being used for industrial inspections -- though the more we think about it, the more we realize just how dirty our windows are. Video after the break.
Xperia Play shipment to New Zealand stolen, Vodafone launch delayed (update: fake)
As if Sony Ericsson hasn't already had enough headaches with the Xperia Play. here comes Vodafone New Zealand with the announcement that its launch shipment of the gamer-friendly smartphone has been... stolen! We don't know how many Xperia Plays were in those crates, but it must take a pretty sophisticated operation to snatch up all of Voda's supply for an entire country. This slight hitch in transportation blatant lie follows an unexplained delay in shipments reaching the UK last month, and will compound shortages already caused by limited production capacity in Japan. Man, imagine how terrible this news might have been if the Play actually had any games worth playing. Update: It's all fake. Vodafone recently released some "security footage" of the "theft" in action, which only served to immediately incite outrage in viewers of the clip, and a Vodafone New Zealand spokesperson admitted to The Australian that the company made up the whole thing. For shame.
New Zealand paralympian buys first Rex Bionics exoskeleton, takes robot walking legs for a spin
Surely we weren't the only ones to wonder aloud who would be the first come up with $150,000 for a Rex Bionics robotic exoskeleton when the Auckland-based company introduced it last summer. Of course, no price seems too high for the ability to walk again, but that's still a lot scratch to get together -- and the space has been getting a lot more competitive as of late. The honor went to fellow Kiwi Dave MacCalman, a multiple medal-winning paralympian, who lost the use of his legs after sustaining a spinal cord injury while diving into a river. The 6-foot, 4-inch athlete took his first steps in over 30 years with the use of his newly-purchased robot legs -- and from the look on his face, he definitely got his New Zealand dollar's worth. If you need a quick refresher on exactly what this thing can do, check out the video after the break.
Alienware M14x laptop now available to order... in Malaysia (update: M11x too)
Well, it looks like those eager to get their hands on Dell's much-leaked Alienware M14x laptop now finally have at least one option, although it might not be the most convenient one. The gaming laptop has just turned up on Dell Malaysia's website, where it's now already available to order starting at RM 4,799, or roughly $1,600. Of course, this is an Alienware laptop, so there's also quite a few higher-end options available for some extra cash, including up to a Core i7 2820QM processor, 8GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M graphics with 3GB of DDR3 memory (and Optimus technology), and your choice of either a 1,366 x 768 or 1,600 x 900 resolution on the 14-inch display. As for a broader release, Pocket-lint is reporting that both the M14x and M18x will be officially announced (if not released) on April 19th which, last we checked, is tomorrow. [Thanks, koinmove] Update: Looks like the US (or global, perhaps) release for the M14x is indeed on. Or, Alienware's coincidentally teasing something else entirely at the exact same time. Thanks, Jason. Update 2: Ah, and now we have the little M11x R3 showing up on Dell's Australia and New Zealand sites. Thanks everyone. Update 3: As expected, the UK's also getting the M14x and the new M11x. Thanks, Thomas.
International iPad 2 launch snapshot: New Zealand
Here's a preview of what international Apple fans can expect for the iPad 2 launch later today. The iPad 2 went on sale in New Zealand about an hour ago as I write this. About 15 minutes or so later, it pretty much sold out nationwide. iPhonewzealand has a good roundup of user pics from lineups all over the nation, and though the lines are much shorter than in the States, they still show great enthusiasm. Two stores in the city I live in were authorized to sell the iPad 2 according to Apple's website: Dick Smith Electronics (DSE) and JB Hi-Fi. I watched the line progress at DSE, where about 40 people had lined up by the time the launch took place at 5 PM local time. Oddly enough, the first person in line said he'd only queued up an hour beforehand; by contrast, people in major cities like Auckland and Wellington had been in line for several hours hoping to buy Apple's latest gadget. This was in spite of the fact that many resellers didn't give line standers official confirmation that they had stock on hand until well into the day -- New Zealand doesn't have any official Apple Stores, and for some reason, resellers were being very coy throughout the day. Dick Smith sold through its entire stock of iPad 2 units in 15 minutes. Store employees wouldn't divulge exactly how many units they had ("very limited" was all they could tell me), but based on the number of people who left empty-handed, I'd say this store received a total of 25 units. JB Hi-Fi, on the other hand, actually had stock left over when I went there, with two units unsold. JB Hi-Fi's employees confirmed that they, too, received only around 25 units in total. The good news is, if you do manage to snag an iPad 2, you won't be left wanting for accessories. Although virtually every iPad 2 buying customer left DSE with a Smart Cover, there were dozens left over afterward. Extrapolating upward from ~50 units sold in Palmerston North, that means New Zealand received at most 2500 iPad 2 units on launch day. Note that this is a very rough back-of-the-envelope calculation based on comparing the number of units in Palmerston North (50) versus its population (~80,000) versus the population of New Zealand (about four million). In reality, I'd guess the total number of iPad 2s sold today probably numbers closer to 1500 or less -- still much higher than my very pessimistic estimate of 500 units. That being said, given the very limited stock sold where I live and the 3-4 week shipping delay, I'm glad I got mine from the States. All told, this paints a picture for the international iPad 2 launch that pretty much everyone had to expect after seeing how things went down in the US -- though countries like the UK and Australia, who both have official Apple Retail Stores, are likely to get much more allocated stock than New Zealand, where everything goes through resellers. Yes, the iPad 2 is launching in 25 countries on March 25..., but if you want one, you'd better get in line as soon as you finish reading this sentence. Go!
iPad 2 launches internationally tomorrow, we check the prices
Despite frantic rumors to the contrary over the past two weeks, the iPad 2 will be launching tomorrow (March 25) in 25 other countries around the world. From the European continent to Australia, the UK to New Zealand. If you happen to be from the future and today is already March 25, the online ordering has begun, and at this point, you can expect to wait 2-3 weeks for your order to arrive. How much are you going to pay for your iPad 2 and accessories? It depends on the country, of course. We've scoured the online Apple Stores for a number of countries to find the pricing for you, and the results are in the table above. Note that this is not a complete price chart; we're just doing a price comparison of representative iPad products. UK iPad 2 fanatics can also buy subsidized devices from T-Mobile UK, which will be selling 16 GB Wi-Fi + 3G devices only at a price of £199 upfront plus £25 per month for existing customers or £229 upfront plus £27 per month for new customers. That's with a 2-year contract featuring 1 GB of data per month plus 1 GB of "quiet time" (12 AM - 10 AM) data usage. We look forward to hearing from TUAW readers around the globe who are waiting in line at their local Apple Stores to pick up an iPad 2 and accessories. Be sure to send us pictures! [via RazorianFly, MacStories]
iPad 2 international pricing in a handy chart
Italian blog Setteb.it has published a chart comparing pricing between the USA and 18 of 25 countries involved in the March 25 iPad 2 launch. Each country's price listings take into account local taxes, with a 9.2 percent sales tax for the USA included for reference. All prices are expressed in local currency (if any) with all currencies converted into Euros for easy comparison. The UK and most other European countries are paying a significant premium over US pricing. Regardless of local tax rates, most European nations can expect to pay €479 (~US$675) for a base 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, all the way up to €799 (~US$1125) for a 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model. In the UK, once VAT is subtracted, the base retail price of the 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G model comes to about US$892, much higher than the before-tax $829 price in the USA. Remarkably, New Zealand has some of the lowest pricing on the chart. Although it's traditionally been home to very high prices for Apple gear, NZ's before-tax pricing for the iPad 2 is very close to that in the States. Once New Zealand's GST is subtracted out, the 64 GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad 2 costs US$834, only $5 more than the base US retail price. The base 16 GB Wi-Fi model before-tax price is US$517, again not much higher than the $499 US price. For Kiwis used to paying a 5-15 percent markup on retail pricing on top of GST for Apple gear, these lower prices will make the device a much more attractive prospect than before. We still don't know how the international launch will play out on the 25th, but given the way things played out in the US launch, it's likely that stocks will be very limited in most countries. If you live outside the US and want an iPad 2 badly enough to brave both the higher cost and the launch-day craziness, good luck and good hunting. [via Wired]
iPad 2 gets same quad-band 3G as iPhone 4
Just like the iPhone 4 before it, the feature I wanted most from the iPad 2 was support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA in its 3G chipset. And just like the iPhone 4, the UMTS/GSM version of the 3G-enabled iPad 2 delivers, with the same quad-band support as the iPhone 4. The original iPad (and the iPhone 3G and 3GS) supported three frequencies for high-speed 3G access: 850, 1900, and 2100 MHz. If a wireless provider's 3G network didn't operate at one of those frequencies, the iPad or iPhone would then fall back on EDGE, or worse yet, GPRS, at 850, 900, 1800, or 2100 MHz. In countries whose wireless providers chose to run wide swaths of their 3G networks at 900 MHz, this meant older iOS devices would have extremely slow connections anywhere outside areas running at 1900 or 2100 MHz. As an example, my old iPhone 3G would drop to GPRS anywhere outside the central areas of major cities here in New Zealand, because my wireless provider's "extended 3G" network operates at 900 MHz. The iPhone 4 supports 900 MHz, greatly expanding my local 3G coverage compared to older iPhones, and the same will be true of the iPad 2 compared to the original iPad. As a matter of fact, the original iPad's lack of support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA was one of the main reasons I didn't buy it. Now that the iPad 2 has the same quad-band 3G capabilities as the iPhone 4, this is no longer an issue. Almost all wireless providers worldwide operate their 3G networks at a frequency now supported by the iPhone 4 and iPad 2, meaning US owners of the AT&T 3G iPad can travel internationally with few worries about network compatibility.
Sony Music Unlimited now streaming tracks to the US
Let's hope Sony's new streaming music service -- just launched today for the US, Australia, and New Zealand -- isn't as unwieldy to use as its "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" moniker suggests. The service features six million tracks from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal, EMI, and Warner and is available on Sony's own devices including the PS3, Blu-ray disc players, Bravia televisions, and VAIO PCs. It'll also be available on Android smartphones soon with an iOS app coming later this year, assuming Apple's new subscription debacle doesn't derail Sony's plans. A basic membership provides an interactive radio experience for $3.99 per month while a premium $9.99 per month service gives subscribers on-demand access to the Music Unlimited library with the ability to manage your music through playlists and the like. Sony also provides a useful service that scans your local library and playlists to "jump start" the organization of your Music Unlimited collection. Wonder how it'll work on the NGP and PlayStation tablet?
Windows Phone 7 now on sale... in New Zealand
Well played, New Zealand. Hobbit-infested scenery, Flight of the Conchords, the first in the world to get iPhone 3Gs... and now this. What you're looking at is purportedly the first person to purchase a Windows Phone 7 device, and even if that's not quite the case, it signals the launch of the phone for the island country, which would make it the first region in the world to put the device on sale. Have patience, non-Kiwi friends. Update: After the break, a shot of a Vodafone NZ HTC Trophy, purchased at Aotea Square in Auckland. Thanks, Jonathan! [Thanks, Stephen]
iOS update forthcoming to fix Alarm Clock app bug
Our intrepid Kiwi reporter, Chris Rawson, recently told TUAW readers about a mysterious bug that hit his iPhone on the morning of September 25th when New Zealand switched to Daylight Saving Time. iOS users in Australian time zones that follow Daylight Saving Time had a similarly rude awakening on the morning of October 3rd when recurring alarms in the iOS Alarm Clock app went off an hour early. What's happening? There's a bug in the Alarm Clock app that has been affecting users when a change to DST occurs. Other iOS users in Queensland, Austraila also reported that their alarm clocks adjusted to the Daylight Saving Time change on the 3rd, despite the fact that they're not in a DST zone. There are workarounds available -- users can set the alarm for one hour after the time they actually want to wake up, or they can turn off the recurring alarm and set a non-recurring alarm every day. Apple Australia apparently told ZDNet Australian Edition that they were aware of the problem and have developed a fix that will be included as part of an upcoming software update. It's expected that the update will appear before daylight saving time changes happen in other parts of the world, including November 6th (USA) and October 30th (EU). That means that we may see another interim iOS release prior to the expected arrival of iOS 4.2 in late November. [via AppleInsider]
iPad hitting nine more countries this Friday
Apple has just let word out that it'll be bringing its super-selling slate to nine new markets. The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore are all getting their hands on the device this Friday, July 23. We were just remarking on how the iPad's sales pace had slowed down recently, but this expansion in markets should move things along toward rounding the next milestone. Local pricing hasn't yet been revealed, but it's not like there's long to wait now. "Many" more countries are promised before the end of the year, so don't despair if your local Apple Store isn't stocking the iPad just yet.
Powertread turns gridlock into electricity with a series of tubes
Getting stuck in traffic sucks, but thanks to a couple of Kiwis you might soon be feeling a little better about yourself while muttering about the brake-happy commuter ahead of you. An invention called Powertread by Justin Robertson and Brett Kemp looks to do something positive with the unending shuffling of queued cars. It's literally a series of tubes filled with water that, when run over, force their contents through a turbine to generate electricity. One car driving over one of the things generates 580 watts of electricity at 36 amps. That's not an awful lot power, but imagine a dozen of the things lined up at a busy off-ramp, run over by thousands of impatient drivers every day, and you can see the potential. The Singaporean government does too, providing grants to fund the project and two shopping malls there have already signed up to purchase the results. Who knows whether the things will follow our favorite folk duo over to North American shores, but until then you can at least get a similar feel at your local Burger King.
Software to be unpatentable in New Zealand, Peter Jackson said to have some opinion on that
Oh, New Zealand, you country full of crazy cats. When will your zany ways end? Looks like the government of the country which produced Peter Jackson, famed director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy will finalize a move to make software unpatentable via a Bill which would make that the law of the land (software patents do not exist in Europe, either). The basic argument here is that patent trolls -- and to some extent, patents in general -- stifle innovation and make it nearly impossible for software developers in the NZ to get their groove on. New Zealand's two largest software manufacturers, Jade and Orion, both support the banishment of such patents, so it'll be interesting to see just how awesomely creative future software developments from the country become. Either way, we doubt Jaron Lanier will ever be moving there.
Rex, the robotic exoskeleton, aims to make wheelchairs obsolete
New Zealand isn't exactly known for being a hotbed of tech innovation, but this set of bionic legs might just realign that perception a little bit. The product of seven years of development work, the Rex exoskeleton is capable of supporting the full weight of a person -- making it suitable for paraplegics -- and moving him or her around in a familiar bipedal fashion. It's operated using a joystick and control pad and is simple enough for handicapped users to self-transfer in and out of. The best news, perhaps, is that it's about to go on sale in its home country this year, with an international launch following in 2011. The worst news? Probably the $150,000 (US) initial asking price, but then we'd hardly say we're qualified to judge the value of being able to walk again. Video and full press release after the break. [Thanks, Kurt and Simon]
Telecom New Zealand pulling plug on its CDMA network in 2012
It's a bit early to sound CDMA's death knell, but this is definitely an interesting development: New Zealand's Telecom NZ is getting ready to switch off its legacy CDMA network just a year after turning on its HSPA-based one. It gets even crazier, though, because although CDMA will go dark in 2012, EV-DO service will actually be turned off before that on November 30 of this year. That's an extremely rapid transition that's presumably being egged on by the carrier's desire to free up spectrum for next-gen services, but we can't even imagine the kind of chaos you'd see if Verizon or Sprint did that -- or Canada's Bell or Telus, for that matter, both of which actually have recently added HSPA networks to their footprints. Let's hope Telecom makes it as painless as possible for legacy customers to migrate, eh?
The #1 thing I want in the next iPhone: support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA
The next iPhone is widely expected to debut sometime in the next few months, most likely at WWDC, which is rumored to kick off on June 28. Even though that's only a hair over three months away, so far there's been very little revealed about the next iteration of the iPhone either in terms of its appearance or likely features. Apple can put a better camera in it, add more capacity, a better processor, a front-facing camera for videoconferencing, and a dozen other things -- but quite honestly, I'd be perfectly happy if none of that made it into the next-gen iPhone so long as one feature does find its way in: support for 900 MHz UMTS/HSDPA. The iPhone 3G and 3GS, as well as the forthcoming iPad, all contain 3G antenna/chipsets that support UMTS/HSDPA at 850, 1900, and 2100 MHz. UMTS/HSDPA is an alphabet-soup way of referring to the GSM flavors of 3G. In other words, high-speed broadband works at those frequencies, and only those frequencies. If high-speed broadband isn't available at those frequencies, the iPhone will fall back to GSM/EDGE at 850, 900, 1800, or 1900 MHz. For those of you living in the US and on AT&T, the iPhone's 3G frequency range is especially tailored for your use. Most of AT&T's 3G network runs on 850 MHz, while T-Mobile runs at 1700 MHz -- this is why the iPhone only works at EDGE speeds with T-Mobile, because the iPhone's 3G chipset isn't tailored for the 1700 MHz band. 3G networks in many other areas of the world, including portions of Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand function at 900 MHz. This creates several problems for users in those regions; read on to find out why.
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.
An ode to iPhone tethering
Sometimes I feel sorry for you poor iPhone users in the US. Sure, the telecommunications landscape in New Zealand isn't exactly perfect, but our small nation has the US beat on at least one very significant point: unlike AT&T, our wireless providers let us tether our iPhones as much as we want (within our monthly broadband limits, anyway). Sure, there are workarounds that let you do iPhone tethering in the States, but nothing beats the pure simplicity of officially supported tethering: flip a couple switches in your iPhone's settings, then either pair over Bluetooth or dock your iPhone, and boom, your Mac runs off your iPhone's data connection. I've been using iPhone tethering since it became available in iPhone OS 3.0, and it's saved my geek bacon many times. On a recent monthlong vacation where my wife, my mother-in-law, and I hopped all over both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, using my iPhone's data connection on my MacBook Pro was often the only feasible way of connecting to the world beyond our campsite. Many of the places we stayed had Wi-Fi available, but the prices were pretty astonishing; some places wanted $10 for 20 minutes of internet access. In towns where we had a decent 3G connection, we were able to watch videos in Safari (No Flash? No problem), look up tourist information, get access to Google Maps, download music and apps from the iTunes Store, and keep an eye on the notoriously fickle weather. All these things are possible to an extent using the iPhone by itself, but things went much faster and more smoothly on my MacBook Pro, where multitasking, multiple downloads, and a 17" screen are all big improvements over the browsing experience on the iPhone. Read on to find out what else iPhone tethering can do for you, and why AT&T's excuses for not letting you have it are totally disingenuous.
