texas
Latest
El Paso resident finds Mexican Orbiter Mini drone in his front yard
When discussing drones, we usually think of the Af-Pak theater (or perhaps joy ridin' UK teens), so it was with some amusement that we heard about a little border excursion that a Mexican UAV made into American airspace a few days ago. According to reports, the device -- believed to be an Israeli-made Orbiter Mini -- was being operated by the Mexican government (on its side of the border) when it experienced some sort of "mechanical malfunction" and crossed over to El Paso, Texas, where it was discovered on a resident's front lawn last Tuesday. The Orbiter Mini, manufactured by Aeronautics Defense Systems, has a six foot wingspan and will stay in the air up to four hours.
Ignition L.A. studio moving to Austin
Ignition Entertainment's Los Angeles branch is moving to Austin, Texas, reports IGN. "All business will be continuing as usual," a company representative told the site -- which, for Ignition, means typically unusual business. While no official reason was given for the closure of the Glendale, Calif. publishing offices, a fresh start in Austin is an unsurprising choice given the city's rich history of game development and the state's business incentives. Maybe the move is simply a matter of consolidating Ignition's two U.S. studios, L.A. and Gainesville (Fla.), and having them meet halfway. The move from L.A. is said to have no effect on the company's current staff or projects, according to IGN, while Ignition still won't confirm exactly what is going on in Florida. A month ago, the Florida branch was reported to be closed and staff rumored to be forced out to Texas (or to find a new job). The studio's sci-fi FPS Reich was assumed to have suffered the same uncertain fate as Ignition's WarDevil game, which was left in limbo following the closure of the Ignition's London-area development studio in late September. Of course, WarDevil has since been resurrected as "Project Kane" and is supposedly in the hands of a "core team" and on track for a Q4 2011 release. See? We told you: unusual business. [Image sources: UTV Ignition; 25or6to4 (Wikipedia)]
Houston will be home to America's largest car charging network, identity crisis
Everything is somewhat more gargantuan in Texas, so its only natural that Houston has its eye on having the largest network of electric vehicle chargers in the country. The plan is a privately funded brain-child of power plant operator NRG Energy, which hopes to install 150 charging stations in the 25 mile vicinity of downtown Houston starting in February. Chargers will be placed at common retail locations such as Walgreens and Best Buy, but given that 80 to 90 percent of charging will occur in homes, an $89 all-you-can-juice monthly plan will also include the installation of 240-volt charging systems in residences. NRG doesn't expect to turn a profit on its $10 million investment for several years, but hopes that taking the proactive step will create a lucrative business in the future as electric vehicle prices (hopefully) hit the skids. The company also wants to build a similar network in Dallas in early 2011, and perhaps San Antonio and Austin in the future as well. Still, while the plans are admirable for the home of big-oil, compared to London's government-backed 1,300 station plan, NRG's Houston aspirations still seem positively Rhode Island-sized.
Ubisoft's Battle Tag launches assault on Texas tomorrow, Canada next week
One of Ubisoft's more bizarre products at E3, Battle Tag, finally has a release date. In Texas and Canada. And, as of writing, only Texas and Canada. Ubisoft's self-described "hybrid" toy/game lets you recreate a laser tag experience at home, but with a number of game-inspired twists. There are health packs, ammo crates, and multiple game modes, customizable via an included PC app. For more info on how the setup process works, check out our video preview. The two player "Starter Pack" will be available for $129.99. The Canadian release is set for November 22, exclusively at Zellers and on Ubisoft's official website. Texas will serve as a "test release" for the US market, with fifteen Toys R Us stores in Houston and Austin to begin selling the toys tomorrow. Ubisoft has created an action-packed trailer of lots of people having fun with the Battle Tag gear, which we've embedded after the break. Provided you live in Texas or Canada, and have lots of money to spare, maybe you'll be able to join in on the fun as well. Call your local store to see if it's one of the fifteen. %Gallery-107787%
Apple loses, challenges patent verdict surrounding Cover Flow and Time Machine
Remember that one random company who sued Apple back in March of 2008 for ripping off its display interface patents? Turns out it was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, a hotbed for patent trolls who know that they stand a better-than-average chance of winning simply because of where their issues are being taken up. Sure enough, Cupertino's stock of lawyers is today being forced to challenge a loss after a jury verdict led to Apple being ordered to pay "as much as $625.5 million to Mirror Worlds for infringing patents related to how documents are displayed digitally." Ouch. Naturally, Apple has asked U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis for an emergency stay, noting that there are issues on two of the three; furthermore, Apple has claimed that Mirror Worlds would be "triple dipping" if it were to collect $208.5 million on each patent. In related news, the Judge is also considering a separate Apple request (one filed prior to the verdict) to "rule the company doesn't infringe two of the patents" -- if granted, that would "strike the amount of damages attributed to those two patents." In other words, this whole ordeal is far from over. We can't say we're thrilled at the thought of following the play-by-play here, but this could definitely put a mild dent in Apple's monstrous $45.8 billion pile of cash and securities. Or as some would say, "a drop in the bucket."
TUAW Giveaway: Win a subscription to Slacker Radio Plus for Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is going on next week in Austin, TX (as is GDC Online, which I'll be covering for TUAW). The festival has teamed up with Slacker Internet Radio and Seed Labs to spread the word and share some of the music from the artists performing there. They've produced a free app to check out the lineup of artists at the show, as well as make your own schedule, see a map of the event, post your own pictures and stories directly from the show, and even use a virtual lighter if a performance moves you to do so. You're on your own trying to get them to play "Freebird," though. Slacker Radio is also tied in to the app -- you can listen to an Internet radio station called Austin City Limits Radio, playing tunes and providing insight exclusively from the artists at the festival. To celebrate, Slacker has offered TUAW readers some free subscriptions to the Slacker Radio Plus service, which is used in conjunction with the original Slacker Radio app. That app is also free, but a Slacker Radio Plus subscription allows you to get song lyrics, get rid of the ads, skip songs whenever you want, and listen to your favorite stations offline. We've got four one-year subscriptions (usually US$47.99 each) and three three-month subscriptions (usually $14.99) to give away to seven lucky TUAW readers. Hit the "Read More" link below to find out how to win your own, and if you're interested in the Austin City Limits festival, be sure to check out the free app on the App Store now.
MetroPCS fires up another LTE market: Dallas / Fort Worth, Texas
Look out, WiMAX -- LTE is blazing a path, and it's one that leads directly to the market you're aiming for. Shortly after launching its first commercial LTE market in Sin City, MetroPCS has just lit up its second in the Dallas / Fort Worth area of Texas. Monthly plans start at $55 per month (including all taxes and fees), and as with customers in Vegas, DFW users will also be looking at the dual-mode Samsung Craft ($299 in contract-free form) in order to take advantage. The carrier has reiterated that it hopes to launch even more LTE markets "later this year and in early 2011," which means that your 3G phone is getting more antediluvian by the minute.
UTexas researchers develop organic battery, aim for week-long use in smartphones
Christopher Bielawski, a brilliant mind working at the University of Texas at Austin, had this to say about his newest discovery: "I would love it if my iPhone was thinner and lighter, and the battery lasted a month or even a week instead of a day; with an organic battery, it may be possible." Anyone that has ever owned an iPhone (or a smartphone or any sort, really) can grok just how bold those words are, but according to Mr. Bielawski, "we're now starting to get a handle on the fundamental chemistry needed to make this dream a commercial reality." At the center of this potential revolution is a newfangled organic battery recently detailed in the journal Science, but just as important is the artificial photosynthesis that the research also touches on. Bielawski and colleague Jonathan Sessler have seemingly figured out how to create an electron transfer process that can proceed in the opposite direction, with this forward and backward switching of electron flow opening up new avenues for the historically stagnant battery innovation market. Granted, these guys have yet to demonstrate that the process can occur in a condensed phase, so actual commercialization is probably a century millennium or two out, but hey -- at least our list of "awesome thing that'll probably never happen" has grown by one.
Oncor's 'Take a Load Off, Texas' campaign offers Dallas residents smarter thermostats
Heating and cooling costs make up half of your average home's utility bills. A smarter thermostat, then, could save you big bucks, and so we're glad to see Texas utility company Oncor rolling out EcoFactor software and compatible thermostats to subscribers. These units look straightforward enough, but connect to the interwebs to download weather reports, meaning they can anticipate heatwaves and cool spells and plan accordingly. They can also figure out just how long it takes to get your home to a certain temperature, so if you want it 74 degrees at your pad by the time you arrive from work at 5:30 this thing can figure out the last possible minute it needs to spin up the AC. That's great, and a $19.95 installation fee is similarly encouraging, but we're not so keen on the $8.99 "monitoring" fee Oncor will be charging monthly. For that kind of cash this thing should track us on Latitude figure out our schedule by itself. Update: We got a note from EcoFactor who wanted to clarify a few things, primarily that they don't actually do the thermostats, just software. Its their software that tells the otherwise absent-minded thermostats what to do, which is where the subscription fee comes from (erroneously called a "monitoring" fee by our initial source). The first six months are free, but after that you're on the hook for nine bucks every lunar cycle or so. We still think that's a bit steep, but we've certainly spent more on less worthwhile things.
TWC rebadges Sprint Overdrive, offers it as IntelliGo mobile 3G / 4G hotspot
And then, there were three. Three ways to snag an Overdrive, that is. Months after Sprint issued the original 3G / 4G mobile hotspot, Clear came along and introduced a rebadged version of the same thing. Now, Time Warner Cable (who is also in cahoots with Sprint and Clear) is following suit by tossing its logo on the all-too-familiar device and christening it the IntelliGo. Functionally, it's the same as ever -- there's a built-in battery that'll provide 3G / 4G mobile internet to a smattering (read: five) of nearby devices via WiFi, a microSD slot and USB connectivity. The difference here, though, is that it'll run you $49.99 on a two-year contract, and the fee will "vary by region." Speaking of regions, it'll be available wherever Road Runner Mobile is offered, which means Texas, North Carolina, Hawaii and Kansas City for now.
Chevrolet bringing 10,000 Volts in 2011, but it's the current of change that will kill you
Good news for all electric heads out there: "intense interest" in the Chevy Volt has led General Motors to expand its launch markets to now include Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. They join California, Michigan and Washington DC, although only Austin in Texas and New York City will have the honor of retail Volts before 2010 is through; the rest of the new markets will get their fill in 2011. Though Chevy still hasn't set down a final date and price for its electric car, late 2010 availability seems to mesh well with a November 1 rumor we heard earlier. Beyond this year, 10,000 units are planned to be built in 2011, with 30,000 more coming up in 2012. So it's gonna be a pretty exclusive club however you look at it, now can we get a cheesy music video going for this car or what? Oh wait...
Texas schools receive funding for two Wii-based initiatives
Two Wii-based educational projects have received grants in the small east Texas town of Lindale. The Lindale Independent School District Education Foundation has awarded $1,021.40 to Early Childhood Center teachers Cookie Hartley and June Wright, whose "Wii Can Do It!" project aims to use Wii games to teach as "therapy and instructional tools" to "accelerate learning" for preschoolers with disabilities, and Lindale Primary School's Cynthia Peters and Bobbie Williams for "Wii Fit, Wii Moving, and Wii Happy," a more general program about using the Wii to introduce students to technology and build teamwork skills. The Fund consists of donations from local citizens and businesses. These two grants are part of a total of $13,802.36 awarded in the district, all handed to teachers with surprise novelty checks, Publishers Clearinghouse-style. The only downside is that Wii systems are going to be a bit harder to find in Lindale this week for everyone else. [Via GamePolitics]
Disgruntled auto salesman bricks cars with remote kill-switch
Over the years, a number of optional technologies have allowed new auto buyers to remotely disable and / or recover their vehicles after purchase, but these devices aren't always optional, and it might not even be the buyer who activates them. According to Threat Level, a man has been charged in Austin, Texas for allegedly hacking into the computer of his employer, Texas Auto Center, and activating WebTeck remote horn triggers and kill devices installed in over 100 cars owned by the company's customers -- all from the comfort of home. After Texas Auto Center reset the offending software's passwords and figured out what's what, the Austin High Tech Crime Unit quickly traced access back to one Omar Ramos-Lopez and made an arrest -- but for many, the damage (in terms of missed work, school and tow-truck calls) had already been done. Care to form an opinion? Read more about the crime, and WebTeck, at our source links.
Clearwire's WiMAX rollout rolls on: NC, WA, TX, IL and HI get lit
Think LTE is the future? How's about the present? Clearwire is expanding its national footprint in a big, big way today by announcing WiMAX services in a slew of regions in a smattering of states. Starting today, 4G access can be found in both Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii, which effectively removes the last sane reason to not visit and / or relocate there. In fact, CLEAR is now available to 800,000 citizens of America's finest state, with service extending 1,759 square miles over Oahu, Maui, and Lanai. Moving on, residents of Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina can also buy in, right along with those folks in Dallas/Ft. Worth, San Antonio and Austin, Texas who mistakenly think their BBQ is superior. Closing things out, we've got new access throughout the Puget Sound area (including Seattle and King County, Pierce County, Kitsap County, and Snohomish County), not to mention a green light to hop on the 4G superhighway in the Chicago region. If you're anxious to ditch 3G, you'll find plans starting at just $30 per month.
Robots perform in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' said to outdo the cast of New Moon
Shakespeare's plays have a long, long history of being modded to fit the times. We've seen Macbeths do the running man, and Cordelias dressed like Susie Sioux -- and we've also seen Forbidden Planet, so we know that Robby was just a tinned up Ariel. So robots in Shakespeare? Sure, we've seen that before, but what haven't we seen intertwined into bad theatre? Well, Texas A&M's just staged A Midsummer Night's Dream to include robotic cast members. Working with Professor Robin Murphy, who heads up the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, director Amy Hopper hacked the script a bit to include an air robot -- which is about the size of a pizza, and has been used in military operations -- playing a fairy, and six small radio controlled helicopters. The robotics team used the opportunity to observe how cast and audience members reacted to the robots, and we're pretty sure the audience warmed to them far more quickly than they would to Christian Bale or Sean Penn.
Sprint lights up WiMAX in NC, Chicago and Dallas, launches subsidized Mini 10
Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Or better yet, when a leaked roadmap doesn't get delayed in the slightest? After months upon months of waiting, broadband-lovin' citizens in the North Carolina Triangle and Triad will be celebrating alongside DFW residents and Chicago natives as Sprint's 4G WiMAX service rolls into town. As of right now (that's today, junior), consumers in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Cary, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point and Charlotte, NC; Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas and Chicago, Illinois can roll into a Sprint store and snag a U300 3G / 4G WWAN modem on a $69.99 monthly data plan. We're told that San Antonio and Austin will get lit up later this month, while Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington will join the fray before 2010. Oh, and did we mention that Palm's favorite carrier finally snagged itself a WWAN-equipped netbook? 'Cause the Dell Mini 10 is available starting today for $199.99 at select Sprint stores in the metropolitan Baltimore area. Update: Looks like Sprint changed "Baltimore" to "Bay Area." Odd. Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triangle Read - Sprint WiMAX in the Triad Read - Sprint WiMAX in Charlotte, NC Read - Sprint WiMAX in Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX Read - Sprint WiMAX in Chicago, IL Read - Sprint's first netbook is Dell Mini 10
Clearwire and Sprint slinging WiMAX to NC, HI and TX in November / December
We knew Clearwire would be snaking its 4G services to select markets in North Carolina, Hawaii and Texas before the year's end, but it's always reassuring to hear a corporation come right out and affirm that those leaked dates are still solid. What's interesting about the latest announcement is that both Clearwire and Sprint will be offering 4G in these same cities under their own brands, even though the signals and towers used will be the same. Starting next month, WiMAX will officially land in Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina (Charlotte is already lit up, despite these companies' claims) and Austin; Dallas/Fort Worth; San Antonio, Texas. In December, the companies will get things fired up in Honolulu and Maui, two areas where we're certain techs from Sprint / Clearwire are more than eager to go "test things out." So, now that this has all panned out, how's about another leak sheet for 2010 rollouts?
Clearwire goes live with WiMAX service in ten new markets
Just as we expected, Clearwire has lit up its CLEAR WiMAX services in ten new markets. Beginning today, those with a thirst for ultra-speedy mobile broadband can sink their teeth into those delicious 4G airwaves so long as you call one of the following locales home: Abilene, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Killeen/Temple, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Waco and Wichita Falls, Texas; Bellingham, Wash; or Boise, Idaho. We fully expect a smattering of other markets to see similar launches as the Fall progresses, but if you just can't wait, well -- there's always vacation.
Apple retail news: three new stores opened this weekend
While all of the attention this weekend was around the launch of Snow Leopard, Apple opened up three new retail stores; two new stores in the US and one in Germany. First, the company opened a new store in Hamburg, Germany on Saturday, which is now Apple's second store in Germany, after the store in Munich opened last December. Second, there's a new store in Dedham, Massachusetts at the Legacy Place shopping center. This store will be the ninth store in the state of Massachusetts. Finally, Apple also opened up a new store at the Stonebriar shopping complex in Frisco, Texas. This store makes it the sixth store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. If you live in or are near one of these areas, be sure to check out your new Apple Store. As always, we would love to hear your stories of your first visit or see your photos!
Alpha and beta status updates on DC Universe Online
There hasn't been a lot of new information flying about on DC Universe Online, which is probably just a sign that the SOE team over at Austin, TX are keeping their collective noses to the grinder and pushing for beta sometime in the coming months.Actually, according to a Gamasutra interview with Wes Yanagi that very much seems to be the case, although he doesn't out and say as much. It sounds like cross-platform and controller/UI iteration are probably giving SOE the most grief. We take it as a good sign that they're not rushing it, though, as it shows their seriousness at making this 'massively multiplayer action game' work.As for alpha and beta? According to Wes, "We're still pre-alpha. We're really close to hitting our alpha goals, so hopefully in the next several months, we'll start talking about it." Seems like the game is still a ways off into the future. So long as SOE doesn't release near a World of Warcraft expansion, we think they'll do just fine.