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Verizon enlists Boingo to help it bring 5G indoors
Sure, real 5G is up to three times faster than LTE, but there are a few caveats. As we discovered in Chicago, 5G doesn't always hold up when you're trying to use it indoors. Even a pane of glass can cause your signal to flicker between 5G and 4G. Verizon (Engadget's parent company) and Boingo are hoping to change that. The companies are working together to bring 5G Ultra Wideband service to indoor public spaces, like airports, office buildings and stadiums.
Lawsuit alleges EA infringed on sports stadium update patent
White Knuckle IP filed a lawsuit late last week against EA, alleging that the publisher infringed on a patent that focuses on methods for updating sports games based on real-life changes. The suit referred to U.S. Pat. No. 8,529,350, which described methods that record real-world parameters, then store those elements on a server so players can download them to update their games. The patent dates back to October 2002. While the patent is related to another one that deals with updating an athlete's statistics and skills based on real-life performance, the lawsuit focuses on changes to the appearance and attributes of stadiums and venues. The lawsuit specifically targets games in EA Sports' NCAA Football and Tiger Woods PGA Tour series, from NCAA Football 10 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 through the last respective entries, NCAA Football 14 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14. According to Patent Arcade, White Knuckle "did not identify any specific feature in its complaint." [Image: EA Sports]
Inhabitat's Week in Green: solar pyramids in UAE, Tequila turns to biofuel, and green lamps galore
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Alternative energy projects powered up around the globe this week as Inhabitat showcased a series of solar pyramids designed to energize Abu Dhabi and the Netherlands rolled out plans for a bike path paved with photovoltaics. Meanwhile India announced that it will launch a series of solar-powered cellphone towers this year, and a 19-year-old American teenager created a parabolic solar death ray -- and promptly proceeded to burn down his garden shed. In other news, Tesla jolted the auto world with plans to launch its upcoming Model X in 2013, and a team of researchers from the University of Illinois discovered that the same plant that produces Tequila actually yields a pretty potent biofuel as well. We also learned that Toyota plans to power its upcoming hybrids with lighter, more powerful Lithium-Ion batteries, and we were impressed by the streamlined classic stylings of Mitsuoka's electric Himiko car. Finally, this week we washed away the winter blues by shedding light on 15 green lamps that bathe your interiors in energy-efficient illumination. We also shared 6 green lighting tips that will help you cut your energy bills and 5 tips for home renovations that will keep your house cozy in the worst winter weather.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: the power plant you can ski, and NASA's orbiting Nanosail-D
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week we saw new horizons dawn for green transportation as NASA's Nanosail-D became the first solar sail spacecraft to orbit the earth and President Obama issued a call for one million electric vehicles in his State of the Union Address. We also test drove the recently released electric Mini Cooper and took a look at several transportation breakthroughs that could clean up car emissions - researchers have developed an air pollution-fighting road treatment and Cella Energy claims to have created an emission free gas that costs $1.50 per gallon. In other news, this week Qatar showcased designs for 9 sustainable stadiums for the 2022 World Cup and BIG unveiled plans for a plant-wrapped waste to power plant that doubles as a ski slope. Super cities are on the rise in Asia as China announced plans to construct a mega-city the size of Switzerland and SOM unveiled a masterplan for a cutting-edge green tech city for Hanoi. On the other hand, Dubai's architecture of excess is fading fast as a report revealed that the emirate's world-shaped archipelago of islands is sinking into the sea. We also showcased the latest in portable tech as we brought you a brilliant Fire Department iPhone app that stands to save lives, and we rounded up our five favorite phone-charging green gadgets. And if you're looking for a case to carry it all in, check out these chic quilted iPad bags - just the thing to keep your kit cozy and protected during this month's blizzards.
NFL Redzone Channel to air in stadiums during games
Add another use to the high definition scoreboards and displays liberally spread throughout every sports stadium these days, since the NFL announced its NFL Redzone channel will be shown during games. Replacing the NFL Films highlights package, fans at the game can see teams inside the 20 somewhere else as they happen. The RedZone channel has been an excellent addition for sports viewers at home, we'll see if it's enough to lure people away from their couch and the big screen to the stadium with its "real game atmosphere" and $10 beers.
Cowboys Stadium 3D scoreboard experiment doesn't go so well, turned off in less than seven minutes
You know 3D has a long way to go when even Jerry Jones can't manage to sell it for longer than seven minutes: the vaunted real-time 3D scoreboard display experiment at last night's Cowboys game was turned off to loud cheers after just six minutes and fifty seconds of being active. The problem, as usual, was glasses: most of the 80,000 people in attendance didn't bother to put on the headgear required to see the 3D effect, and instead saw a blurry anaglyph image -- which they then booed. What's more, some who wore the glasses complained that the 3D effect caused nausea, although probably not as badly as the Cowboys' 20-17 loss to the Chargers. HDlogix actually has the tech to do glasses-free 3D, but it simply doesn't work when scaled up for the world's largest HD monitor -- a problem they'll have plenty of time to solve when the Cowboys fail to make the playoffs with another couple December losses.
