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Bae Institute crafts magical photonic laser thruster
Now that humans have shot themselves up into space, frolicked on the moon, and have their own space station just chillin' in the middle of the galaxy, what's really left to accomplish out there? How about cruising around at light speed? Apparently, a boastful group of scientists at the Bae Institute in Southern California feel that they're one step closer to achieving the impossible, as the "world's first photonic laser thruster" was purportedly demonstrated. Using a photonic laser and a sophisticated photon beam amplification system, Dr. Bae reportedly "demonstrated that photonic energy could generate amplified thrust between two spacecraft by bouncing photons many thousands of times between them." The Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) was constructed with off-the-shelf parts and a bit of fairy dust, and it's said that this invention could eliminate the need for "other propellants" on a wide range of NASA spacecrafts, theoretically savings millions on energy costs and enabling longer missions. So while this may be an incredibly novel idea, the chances of this actually working outside of a laboratory seem relatively small, and make sure we're not the guinea pigs strapped into the first craft that utilizes this mystical method of launching, cool?[Via Wired]
Forza's Showdown airing tomorrow night
Tomorrow night the debut of Forza Motorsports 2 Showdown will be airing on SPEED TV at 11:00PM EST. Showdown will feature six competitors going head to head in weekly events to ultimately win the final race and take home a sweet $100,000 prize. Every week we'll be treated to an insider look at the development of Forza 2 as well as get information on new features and never before seen footage from the game. Also, be sure to enter the Showdown sweepstakes for a chance to win a nice gaming bundle or a free copy of Forza 2. If you're a Forza fan be sure to tune into SPEED TV Wednesday evening to get your weekly dose of Forzanicity.[Via TeamXbox]
GlobalTop intros GPS HUD Speed Meter
It's practically a foregone conclusion that eying your handy GPS unit a bit too much whilst cruising down the freeway can indeed put you and your fellow motorists in peril, and while robotic turn-by-turn voiceovers do quell the staring fits somewhat, we still tend to rely a tad too much on sheer visuals. GlobalTop is hoping to make the roads a safer place to navigate with its forthcoming GPS HUD Speed Meter, which will supposedly makes its debut at CeBIT. This Bluetooth-enabled device purportedly "displays your speed and other navigational info, like direction, onto your car's windshield," and also enables handsfree communications with your BT-equipped cellphone. Moreover, the speed meter can be setup to alert the driver when exceeding a user-set limit, and while you may not be familiar with the brand, it's reportedly a spinoff of f-tech, which bodes fairly well for us actually seeing this thing beyond the Photoshop stage. As expected, there's no pricing or availability deets surfacing just yet, but all that should change come next month.[Via NaviGadget]
Inilex offers GPS vehicle monitoring via email / SMS
Apparently, tracking your kid's every footstep with that undercover cellphone you "gave" him / her as a generous birthday present just isn't good enough for some overly protective (or paranoid) guardians, as Inilex's "Kepler Advantage" device gives parents the means to keep watch over any ill-advised joyrides your devious ones may take. The GPS-enabled unit is meant to be stashed covertly within an automobile to track every movement it makes, and if the whip just so happens to break out of the user-set "virtual fence" (or exceed a set speed limit) you'll immediately receive an email or text message alerting you to start crafting an adequate form of punishment for whenever they (hopefully) return. Additionally, the device is being marketed to vehicle fleet managers who seem to have a hard time receiving (and keeping) their stock, and while analysts aren't too sure that the $600 to $1,100 tracker will oust LoJack from its thief-deterring palace in the marketplace, Inilex hopes to do just that. Currently, the outfit has just 5,000 customers, but if it were us worried about unsolicited movements of our vehicles, we'd just install one of the many omnipresent eyes below the rear-view mirror and catch 'em red handed.[Via SmartMobs]
Slew of new Nike+ gear leaked
Nike's not doing the best of jobs keeping a lid on their expanding Nike+ CE line (get it, Jobs? Nevermind.), which is why we've got some leaked shots of upcoming gear, including the Nike Speed+ Watch Kit (which displays distance, pace, elapsted time, and calories), and three iPod controlling watch systems including the Amp+, and the so-similar-they-may-be-the-same-product Flight+ and Aero+ (which features voice feedback and a rocking bezel for music control). All are launching launching May 1st for varying prices: $130 (Speed Watch and Aero+) and $80 (Amp+).%Gallery-1270%
Big Brother could slow British motorcycles down, track routes
Most would argue that the UK certainly doesn't need one more piece of surveillance equipment watching its citizens, but regardless of the naysayers, it just might be getting another anyway. The latest implementation of Big Brother in our everyday lives comes courtesy of the Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA), which are devices (presumably GPS-based) that will purportedly track motorcyclists' speeds and throttle things down if they attempt to break the posted speed limit(s). Moreover, the ISA could even be used to track bikers' journeys, and if things "prove successful," could eventually find its way into cars and other vehicles (like Segways beefed-up wheelchairs) in a reported attempt to "drastically cut the death toll on the country's roads." As expected, bikers and bike sellers are less than enthused about the new device, as they expect customers will be the ones footing the bill for the homing beacons and that sales could drop when folks realize they can't get a little footloose every now and then. While there's no hard dates on when (or if) these trackers / speed-controllers would hit motorcycles in the UK, the ISA has already undergone testing at the Motorcycle Industry Research Association (MIRA), so those looking to kick up a little two-wheeled dust best get a move on before the eyes in the sky put the clamps on your fun.[Via Fark]
Verizon FiOS hitting 50Mbps in more states
Sure, it's not quite 100Mpbs, but hey, the folks in Massachusetts and Rhode Island will probably take what they can get. Verizon has just announced that Massachusetts and Rhode Island have now joined New York, Connecticut and New Jersey as states where Verizon "has increased the maximum connection speed of both its mid-tier and top-tier FiOS Internet services." Previously, their mid-range connection topped out at 15Mbps downstream and a paltry 2Mbps upstream, while the high-end package offered just 30Mbps up and 5Mbps down. Basically no other details were given, but Verizon did state that it planned on bringing similar speed boosts to "11 other states where the service is available" during the course of this year, but didn't mention any type of price decreases from the admittedly lofty monthly charges top-tier customers currently pay. Now, how about we get FiOS to more homes before giving all the lucky ones even more bandwidth to play with next time you get the itch to upgrade, okay Verizon?[Via GigaOM]
Sanyo's blue laser to speed up HD DVD / Blu-ray burning?
While Sony's certainly had its fair share of blue laser supply issues, and the current generation of HD DVD / Blu-ray burners are sluggish at best, it looks like the first step towards marginally acceptable write speeds to next generation formats has been taken. According to Nikkei, Sanyo has developed a blue laser diode which will speed up data access, and moreover, should be able to reach write speeds of "up to 6x for dual-layer discs." Similar to LG's combo unit, this diode also plays nice with both HD DVD and Blu-ray recorders, but there's no word if a hybrid writer using the laser is in our immediate future. Still, any progress towards harmony between the formats -- not to mention being able to burn a dual-layer Blu-ray disc in time for your next birthday -- is a step in the right direction, so we're expecting nothing less than a 6x burner to be hitting shelves sooner rather than later, Sanyo. [Warning: read link requires subscription][Via Inquirer]
Researchers show 100Mbps cellular data
As usual, we're given virtually no time to revel in the high-speed (relatively speaking, of course) wireless data we do have before some eggheads have to go and throw the wet blanket on us. Researchers from Germany's Heinrich-Hertz-Institut (a division of Fraunhofer) have apparently taken some standard-issue UMTS equipment and modified it to use MIMO -- the same tech employed in many modern WiFi devices -- to achieve 100Mbps downstream and a full 50Mbps upstream. For the sake of comparison, UMB (aka EV-DO rev. C) takes the crown with 280Mbps down; while there's no word on when this MIMO stuff might hit the streets, UMB won't see the light of day until 2009 at the earliest, so our German friends have a little time to capitalize. And yes, we'll be just fine with a mere 100Mbps on our cellphones, thankyouverymuch.
Ethernet speeds raised to 100 gigabits per second
Our consumer-grade home DSL is starting to look pretty paltry compared to the records that are coming out of research labs these days. While we told you about the latest speed record of 14 terabits per second over fiber in Japan, that really doesn't help use mere mortals who are still using 100Base-T routers in our homes and offices -- even though about a month ago, we spied one of the first gigabit routers on the market, which raised our spirits a bit. Well our hopes have been kicked up a few more notches today, with the news from GigaOm that Infinera, the University of California Santa Cruz, Internet2 and Level3 Communications have just demoed a 100 gigabit per second Ethernet connection over a fiber network between Houston, Texas and Tampa, Florida. Now if only we could get the IEEE bureaucracy and networking manufacturers to move this fast -- we need at least a gigabit per second in our pads, like, last year.
NFS Carbon developer diary video
IGN has posted a video developer diary for EA's upcoming racer Need For Speed Carbon. Obviously, being the Nintendo version of the multi-platform game, we care most about the controls. Understanding such, that is the focal point for the majority of the video. IGN doesn't allow their videos to be embedded, so you're going to have to go over there the old-fashioned way.[Thanks Marc!]
Need for Speed: Carbon controls revealed
Newsweek has got a bit of an exclusive look at the upcoming Need for Speed: Carbon for the Wii. Why them? Bah! But some interesting details were divulged nevertheless.As expected, the default control configuration for NFS: Carbon is the one of simplicity, found also in Excitetruck and a mini-game in Wario Ware: Smooth Moves. Turn the Wiimote on its side, and viola, instant steering wheel. But for you pros out there, there are three alternatives for your particular racing style. The first involves holding the Wiimote at a 45 degree angle, tilting forward to accelerate and back to brake; the nunchuk is tilted left and right for steering. The second and third have the Wiimote held at a 90 degree angle; acceleration is handled by tilting forward as before, but now braking is mapped to the Z button on the nunchuk. One of these two uses the motion sensing in the nunchuk for steering, the other merely uses the analog stick.Anyone else think these options are cool as hell, (partially) mimicking a stick shift configuration? [Thanks, Marc and Dave!]
NFS Carbon details and screens
Leipzig has caused a slow and sure trickle of news and finally we're able to report on some information specific to Need For Speed: Carbon on the Wii. With a trio of surprisingly lovely snapshots and controls similar to that of Excite Truck, we're very excited for this latest installment in the series. Also, the player will be able to slow down their car by pulling the Wiimote toward their body.The presenters noted that the graphics weren't anywhere near what they wanted them to be, concentrating fully on the game's controls at the present time, but we think things aren't looking too shabby as they are.[Via NeoGAF]
Mac Pro benchmark roundup
Other sites are already getting their hands on Mac Pros and putting them through the benchmark ringer, and since we aren't done checking the couch for change yet, I figured a benchmark roundup would be the best way to let you sink your teeth into some cold, hard numbers. If you've been waiting to see how well these things perform in real world tests, your wait just might be over: Macworld pits a 2.66 Quad Core Ghz Mac Pro against 2.5 Quad and Dual 2.7 G5 Power Macs - G5s run crying to mama in everything but Adobe Photoshop tests (hint: that will be a benchmark theme across the board) MacInTouch posts some initial impressions as well as a wide variety of benchmarks, including some real low-level geek stuff like "multi-threaded scalar." Until now, I thought a 'scalar' was just a monster in Unreal Bare Feats posts their own set of tests, including the only After Effects test I've found so far (AE still isn't a UB either; I guess Adobe misunderstood the phrase 'fashionably late to the party') Geek Patrol, as you might glean from the name, also posts some extensive low-level tests in categories such as memory performance, floating point, integer and more Apple's product page also seem to think pretty highly of their own new Mac Pros That's it for now. Just don't blame us for the credit card interest if this pushes you over the edge to buy one.
Safari bookmark tips from macosxhints
The never-failing macosxhints.com is at it again, this time with a series of tips concerning Safari, speed and bookmark management. This tip offers a simple method for using the Finder to sort Safari's bookmarks alphabetically (hint: make sure you hit cmd + j in the Finder and enable the 'Keep arranged by name' option), while this tip points out that Safari can receive a noticeable speed boost if you organize as many of your bookmarks into folders as possible.If you're really looking to speed up Safari, the speed boost/folder tip also contains a roundup from Rob Griffith of quite a few other macosxhints tips that can re-energize Safari's experience.
Need for Speed: Carbon race modes revealed
On the official forums for Electronic Arts, an EA employee with the forum handle of eacomsmoothie has revealed a long list of race modes that will be available in the upcoming Need for Speed: Carbon. While it took us until the third of July to catch his post, he had left his reply as to give us all something to think about over the holiday weekend. Of these modes, returning favorites Drift, Sprint, Circuit, and Speedtrap will help maintain the same flavor of past NFS titles, while new modes in Canyon Race, Canyon Duel, and Canyon Drift will help add some variety to the mix. While more modes are hinted at, the poster did not mention anything beyond implying that the police will be a bit tougher this time around.[Thanks Aaron!]
Need for Speed: Carbon first details
Some of the first details on the upcoming Need for Speed: Carbon have made their way to your eager eyes, by way of the latest issue of Game Informer magazine. Being billed as half NFS: Underground and half NFS: Most Wanted, the game will feature police chases along with the customization system that existed in the Underground titles. The single-player experience will be new, however, as the player is now charged with taking over territories. Three different maps will have players racing for command over seven different territories within each map.Another new addition to the formula is Canyon Racing. In these races, the track is narrow and you must fight for track with other competitors, racing along huge drop offs that present the danger of a long fall followed by fiery demise. There is also a team-based mode in the works for the game, but no details have been revealed on that as of this time.
Hacker installs Core 2 Duo chip in Mac mini, hangs on for the ride
Macenstein has blogged a Mac mini CPU swap, as a poster in a Taiwanese forum has switched out the Core Duo chip for a Core 2 Duo chip, a next-generation CPU from Intel. The brain upgrade has resulted not only in the Mac mini stomping a PowerMac G5 dual 2.5 GHz in an iTunes MP3-AAC conversion test (remember: Mac minis have slower laptop hard drives than desktop PowerMacs), but it also runs cooler, due to the new architecture of these Core 2 Duo (code name: Merom) Intel chips.Given reports like this of these new chips, we might as well talk about the elephant in the room: if these reports of cooler running and even more powerful chips so soon from Intel are true, I foresee a lot of criticism of Apple jumping the gun on cramming Intel chips into their present lineup, in light of all these complaints about heat.[via MacNN]
SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0 for some PowerPC-based Macs
Apple has released a firmware update for SuperDrives in a variety of PowerPC-based Macs, including: PowerBook G4 (12 -inch 1.5GHz) PowerBook G4 (15-inch 1.33GHz, 1.5GHz, or 1.67GHz) PowerBook G4 (17-inch 1.67GHz) iMac G5 (17-inch 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz) iMac G5 (20-inch 1.8GHz) Mac mini G4 The update "fixes burning speeds when writing to certain recordable DVD media". Check out Apple's support document and download page for details and instructions on installing the update.
Did the SMC Firmware Update cripple some Intel Mac clock speeds?
A thread in Apple's support forums discusses complaints of crippled clock speeds after installing yesterday's SMC firmware update on Intel Macs. Upon an apparently successful update, some users checked their min and max clock speeds with CoreDuoTemp to find that their max has been limited to 1000 Mhz, even after using utilities to force their machine to work as hard as it can.I just used CoreDuoTemp to check my own MacBook Pro's clock speeds to find that it's max is set right where it should be, at 2000 Mhz. However, if your Intel Mac's speed is suspect after successfully installing yesterday's SMC firmware update, check out this forum thread to see if something is really afoot in the land of Intel Mac clock speeds.[Thanks Aaron]
