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Tiny, robotic space shuttle to be launched into orbit in April
A long-delayed project initiated by NASA and carried out by Boeing may finally get to see the light of cold, beautiful day according to reports from the US Air Force. The X-37, a small, robotic space plane is set to make its first unmanned trip into orbit in April. Conceived by NASA as an unmanned re-entry lifeboat for crew of the International Space Station, the X-37 reportedly has a cargo bay of just 7 x 4 feet, and it has apparently been shipped to Florida for its maiden voyage, where it will be mounted to an Atlas V rocket for its launch into space. There aren't any other details -- the people running the project are keeping everything pretty quiet, but the shuttle itself is reported to have said that it's putting itself "to the fullest possible use," adding that that "is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."
Symbian provides early glimpse at 2011 Nokia smartphone experience
We've been pretty hard on Nokia with regard to its miserable S60 5th (aka, Symbian^1) user experience as compared to the competition. Fortunately, Nokia's bound and determined to freshen things up in 2010 with two major updates scheduled for the first and second halves of the year. At the moment, Symbian^3 (that's Symbian three) is expected first with Symbian^4 coming before the end of the year (functionally complete in Q3 with S^4 devices shipping in early 2011 according to the symbian.org wiki page). What we've got above then, is a UI Concept proposal for the latter. As you can tell from the pics, Symbian^4 promises to deliver an entirely new user interface: navigation is streamlined and platform apps will be reorganized and redesigned to leverage next gen graphics meant to deliver visually appealing transparencies and transitions on Symbian devices. The experience is based on Direct UI and built upon Qt and Orbit -- a strategy that Nokia hopes will lure developers to the table by making apps easy to build and update with broad scalability across Nokia's entire lineup of handsets. Note that the concept is open for discussion (and thus change) so voice your opinion now. And no, responding "N900 FTW" doesn't count. One more image after the break.
Orbiting fuel stations proposed for trips to the Moon, Mars, and beyond
A US government panel, summoned by el presidente to review the future of human space travel, has expressed strong support for introducing fuel depots into Earth's orbit. Refueling between stops is expected to cut down significantly on the weight of spacecraft and, accordingly, eliminate the need to engineer ever more powerful rockets to launch missions. It would then be up to private companies to compete -- and NASA already knows a thing or two about privatizing space missions -- by reducing costs and developing more efficient methods. While by no means the only potion NASA has bubbling, if the panel concludes in favor of orbiting gas stations, they will form the backbone of all future extraterrestrial exploration. So we're just letting you know in advance -- we're nice like that.
SpaceX's Falcon 1 makes orbit after four attempts
It's been a long road plagued with disappointments and major mishaps, but SpaceX (and founder Elon Musk) has finally made history -- on Sunday the company's Falcon 1 rocket reached orbit. After three attempts to bring the dream to life, the space exploration company succeeded in putting the first privately-developed rocket into space. The liftoff was seen live during a webcast, and the company's site was continuously updated with news, including a message written at 16:26PDT reading:T+0:08:21 Falcon 1 reached orbital velocity, 5200 m/sNominal Second stage cut off (SECO) - Falcon 1 has made history as the first privately developed liquid fueled launch vehicle to achieve earth orbit!!!!!!Needless to say, after the trials and tribulations SpaceX has gone through (including the loss of Star Trek star James Doohan's ashes), this must be welcome relief... as well as the birth of a potentially lucrative new enterprise. Er, no pun intended.[Via Slashdot; Thanks, Kenneth]
Altec Lansing rolls out new look, speakers aplenty
Altec Lansing sure came out fighting today, with it not only debuting a brand new logo, but a bundle of new speakers and iPod docks that sport the new branding. The most stand-out, by far, are the Expressionist Bass speakers pictured above, which are a full ten inches high and include built-in 4-inch subwoofers and two 1.5-inch drivers apiece. Look for them to set you back $130 when they're released next month in both black and white versions. On the slightly less intimidating front, Altec Lansing has the $40 Orbit MP3 iM237 single-speaker unit, which runs on three AAA batteries, and a pair of new inMotion iPod speaker systems: the inMotion Moondance GLOW and the inMotion MAX, the former of which even includes a special "snooze remote." Look for those to run you $200 and $180, respectively -- pics after the break.
O2 announces O2 Xda orbit 2, aka HTC Polaris and HTC Touch Cruise
The O2 Xda orbit 2 enters officialdom and adds yet another name to an already confused HTC device. The TouchFLO-enabled replacement for the 2006-ish Xda orbit brings a pile of new niceties to the line and a pretty slick new look to boot. Featuring 128 MB / 256 MB of RAM and ROM, a 400 MHz Qualcomm CPU, GPS, quad-band GSM, HSDPA (we've heard tri-band and also only 2100), and a 3 megapixel camera with typical Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity thrown in for good measure. Availability is slated for early December from a rock bottom €99 (roughly $140) on contract. If you're in the know and can provide frequency clarity for us, please do.[Via the::unwired]
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]
