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O2's Xda orbit and trion get Windows Mobile 6
Windows Mobile 6 fever: catch it! That's slowly but surely getting easier to do on carriers around the globe -- including, surprisingly, one of our own -- and O2's the latest to add a bit of upgrade cheer to its lineup with support for the Xda orbit and trion. Known to HTC as the Artemis and Hermes respectively, both devices are well-suited for the splendors that Windows Mobile 6 Professional has to offer; in fact, AT&T's variant, the 8525, is scheduled to get its own facelift in the next few months. In the meantime, though, might we recommend staring longingly at the official upgrades across the Atlantic?[Via the::unwired]Read - Xda orbitRead - Xda trion
ASTRO satellite hooks spacecraft up with fuel whilst orbiting
Launching a few birds into space is quite a feat in its own right, but pumping hydrazine fuel into an orbiting counterpart autonomously is really something to be proud of. Just about a month after launching the two unmanned crafts into space, the ASTRO satellite "successfully pumped vital hydrazine fuel into its NextSat counterpart as part of Scenario 0-1, the first in a series of increasingly challenging tests." The machines are currently taking part in the series of Orbital Express missions, and apparently, things are on the up and up thus far. Future tests are slated to include "autonomous undocking, proximity operations and re-docking," as well as installing a battery on NextSat with its robotic arm. We can't wait to see what happens when one of the two gets testy about refueling after hours, but we sure hope the galactic battle is somehow caught on tape.[Via Digg]
EleeNo's Art 8 Elite watch boasts resin inlays
Although it may be perceived that folks purchase watches in order to simply tell the time, we've learned that this misconception is often proved wrong by the watchmaker itself. The Art 8 Elite by EleeNo follows the company's tradition of busting out slick looking timepieces that aren't exactly user-friendly when it comes to quickly portraying the current time, and while we certainly appreciate the handsfree approach and futuristic appeal, telling time based on resin inlays could take some getting used to. Regardless, this stainless steel wristwatch boasts a butterfly clasp, Super 2035 movement from Citizen Japan, four years of battery life, water resistance, and is available with "coffee" or "marble" colored faces. So if you've always desired a moving dartboard on your wrist, and just weren't satisfied with all the other options unveiled this week, you can snag this piece right now for $138.84.[Via Uber-Review]
Explosive data mining robots could be sent to hazardous asteroids
Sending robotic creatures into space has become somewhat of a worldwide pastime, but sending explosive robots to take care of multiple acts of business is what Dennis Ebbets of Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado has on his mind. In a recent presentation given to the American Astronomical Society, Mr. Ebbets described a fleet of robotic probes small and cheap enough to "investigate a near-Earth asteroid's composition and structure." The devices would be battery-powered and would only be useful for a matter of days, but during the time it was on the asteroid, it would collect data of the surface, explode, and allow other still-in-tact siblings to "listen for vibrations that could reveal the object's inner structure." Considering that NASA has compiled a list of over 800 asteroids that could be potentially dangerous to our planet due to their orbit, these exploding bots would serve a dual purpose as they erupted on the surface to break up the asteroid or veer it off course, all while collecting precious data about the "inner structures" of these mysterious rocks. Although funding still isn't guaranteed for the volatile critters to take off just yet, as many as six of the 12-kilograms probes could loaded onto a single spacecraft and launched to its destination "relatively cheaply," and if things go as planned, we could see the first of these gizmos gettin' dirty by 2011.
O2 gets HTC Artemis as "Xda Orbit"
We're not really feeling the carrier-specific exterior (apparently known by HTC as the "Cruiser") as much as the sculpted lines of its generic sibling, but at least O2 Germany customers can take solace in the knowledge that they'll be getting some form of the nav-enabled device. The "Xda Orbit" brings all of that GPS, trackball, and WiFi goodness in a slightly more conservative package -- it's by no means ugly, just not as nifty as the original Artemis we're used to seeing strut its stuff. Look for the Xda Orbit to drop complete with a 512MB microSD card loaded with maps of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland for €249.99 (about $315) on contract in the next few weeks.[Via the::unwired]