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Apple Watch titanium models are largely unavailable
Apple Watch Series 6 titanium models are now generally unavailable, hinting at both Series 7 and unexpectedly strong demand for luxury smartwatches.
Apple adds titanium cases to the Watch lineup
The Apple Watch Series 5, the latest iteration of Apple's popular wearable, will be the first model available with a brushed titanium finish. Apple also announced at today's event that the smartwatch will be available in a ceramic version, as well, after not offering that material with the Series 4 model.
Apple warns against storing its titanium credit card in leather
The titanium Apple Card looks slick (with the sound to match), but you may need to treat it gingerly if you expect it to look as pristine as the day you got it. Apple has posted a cleaning guide for the physical credit card that warns against storing it against leather and denim, lest they cause discoloration that "will not wash off." Yes, that's right -- you could end up with a nasty-looking card simply by putting it in your usual wallet or pants pocket. Many leather wallets have linings, and plastic cards have their own issues, but this suggests it's more delicate than some would like.
The next Apple Watch may come in titanium and ceramic models
Apple Watch Series 4 appeared to mark the death of the Edition line, but those luxurious models might be ready to come roaring back. iHelp BR said it has discovered animations in the watchOS 6 beta that reference not just the previously rumored return of ceramic models for the next Apple Watch, but a brand new titanium option as well. It's unclear if they would be part of a new Series 5 lineup or just a cosmetic tweak to Series 4, but Apple has historically introduced new materials alongside hardware upgrades.
RED finally ships the $1,600 titanium Hydrogen One
At long last, RED is shipping the titanium version of its Hydrogen One phone. It promised the variant when it announced the handset in 2017, and took pre-orders for that version at the full $1,595 cost. When RED delayed the titanium model last September, it sent those who pre-ordered it the aluminum version, and now those folks are receiving a titanium handset as well at no extra cost.
Watch Bugatti test the first 3D-printed brake caliper
Back at the start of 2018, Bugatti revealed that it was working on the first 3D-printed brake caliper. Now that the year is winding to a close, it's finally ready to show the caliper in action. Bugatti has posted a video (below) of a test that simulated braking at speeds as high as 249MPH. As you might imagine, it was quite the show -- the disc alone reached temperatures up to 1,877F, and there were plenty of flames and sparks as the caliper and disc reached their limit.
Lockheed Martin creates its largest 3D-printed space part to date
Lockheed Martin has just finished the final series of quality control tests for an enormous titanium dome meant to serve as caps for satellite fuel tanks. It's not just any ordinary dome, though: the enormous component measures four feet in diameter and is the company's biggest 3D-printed space component to date. Its previous largest qualified space part is an electronics enclosure that's around the size of a toaster. This dome is large enough to seal fuel tanks bigger than humans and, according to Lockheed Martin, big enough to hold 74.4 gallons of coffee or 530 donuts. Glazed, of course.
Boeing uses first FAA-approved 3D-printed parts for the 787
Boeing expects to shave $2 to $3 million off each 787 Dreamliner's manufacturing costs by 2018, thanks to 3D-printed titanium. The company has teamed up with Norwegian company Norsk Titanium to create the first printed structural titanium components for a plane. As Reuters notes, General Electric already prints fuel nozzles for aircraft engines. However, this is the first time a company is using 3D-printed components for parts of a plane that bear the stress of an airframe during a flight.
Blood-repellent metal could lead to safer implants
If you have to get an implant in the future, you may not have to worry quite so much about your body rejecting that life-enhancing technology. Colorado State University scientists have developed a titanium surface that's so blood-repellent that it fools your body into believing that there's no intruder at all. The team grew chemically modified layers that serve as barriers between the metal and organics, blocking any real contact. Fluorinated nanotubes were the most effective method of repelling blood in the experiments.
Titanium-gold alloy could lead to super-strong implants
Many bone implants (such as for hips and teeth) need to be replaced after a decade simply because they're not strong enough to survive for any longer. Rice University might put an end to those regular surgeries, though. Its researchers have crafted a titanium-gold alloy that's the strongest ever to be friendly to organic tissue -- four times stronger than pure titanium, and so strong that the team had trouble grinding it into a powder to check its purity. They created it by preparing titanium-3-gold (that is, three parts titanium for every one part of gold) at a high temperature, forming an extremely sturdy crystal structure.
Cat gets cutting-edge prosthetic legs
Say hello to Vincent the cat. Due to a congenital defect, Vincent was born without rear tibias and likely would have died had he not been rescued and surrendered to an Iowa animal shelter. Once adopted, he caught the attention of Dr. Mary Sarah Bergh, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at Iowa State University's Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center. She worked with 3D printing firm Biomedtrix to create a custom pair of extruded titanium peg legs for the feline, enabling him to walk for the first time.
Basis' fitness tracker now comes in titanium, talks to other health apps
As useful as the Basis Peak may be for tracking your fitness, your data has largely been trapped so far -- you couldn't see it outside of Basis' own apps. However, you'll be glad to hear that things are loosening up. An app update rolling out to the Peak today will share the wristwear's activity data with either Apple's Health app or Google Fit, so you get a more complete picture of your health. If you only strap on your Peak when you're running, for instance, you can still merge its info with the walking data your phone collects. It'll also open a "Playground" for testing app features (such as an activity map and a Photo Finish selfie recorder) before they're available to everyone elseShould that not be enough, there's a firmware update coming on May 20th that will add a stopwatch and improve heart rate monitoring.
Android smartphone made of solid titanium now available for $1,800
In the past, luxury handset manufacturer Gresso has been known for dressing up iPhones with diamonds (and charging $30,000 for the deed) and producing featurephones, but now it's getting into the Android business with its limited edition Radical smartphone series. The bottom-line model, the Radical R1, goes for $1,800 and is made of grade 5 solid titanium, while you can also grab a $2,300 version, which features a logo plate adorned with your choice of white or yellow 18K gold (everything else is exactly the same, however). Not too shabby, but the downside is that they don't necessarily come with the flagship specs you might come to expect from phones that cost a third of the price: The 219g (7.73-ounce) Radicals come with Android 4.1.2, a 4.5-inch qHD screen, dual SIM support, an 8MP rear camera, 36GB internal storage and a quad-core 1.2GHz processor. Don't wait long to decide, however -- only 999 units are available. Update: we originally reported the R1's price at $1,500, where in fact it is actually $1,800.
Archos unveils budget-friendly dual-SIM Titanium smartphones
Archos has revealed not one but four budget smartphones with humble specs to join its tablets in the Titanium line, making us want to break into song. The new Android Jelly Bean devices are named after their screen sizes -- models 40, 45, 50 and 53 have displays that measure 4 (800 x 480 resolution), 4.5 (854 x 480), 5 (960 x 540) and 5.3 (854 x 480) inches, respectively. They have dual SIM slots that allow them to support 850/900/1800/1900MHz GSM, as well as 900/2100 WCDMA bands, and they connect to the internet via HSDPA+/HSUPA. On the inside, you'll the find the phones running on 1.3GHz dual-core MTK6572w processors with 512MB of RAM and, sadly, only 4GB of storage that makes their microSD card slots more valuable than ever. While the devices don't boast any fancy add-ons, they at least come with 5-megapixel rear and 0.3-megapixel front cameras. Availability seems up in the air at this point, but the phones' prices will range from €100 ($137) to €160 ($219) when they come out. Those who'd like to know more about the company's new set of quadruplets can head past the break for more info.
Gittler's all-titanium guitar has no neck or body, demands more than the intro to 'Stairway' (video)
"An out of this world guitar playing experience." That's what Gittler promises from its aircraft-grade titanium axem and has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund production. Based on Alan Gittler's original 1978 design, which is now housed at MoMA, it maintains the same simplified structure, coming from the mantra to strip away "all that is unnecessary and redundant." That's resulted in a guitar body that lacks both a neck and body -- although an acrylic guitar neck can be added, if needed. Guitar enthusiasts that pitch $2,000 into the Kickstarter coffer will land one of 250 "classic model" Gittlers, although they'll have to follow that up with another $1,995 payment to receive the instrument. There's no volume controls, although the makers have managed to squeeze on knobs for both bass and treble. The funding goal stands at $80,000, although it's hard to put a price on good shredding.
Vertu Ti now available in red or blue limited editions, only 1,000 of each made
The Vertu Ti Colours collection is wrapped in either "Sunset Red" or "Midnight Blue" calf leather, and only 1,000 units are made for each color.
Archos picks a new CEO, ships 80 and 97 Titanium tablets to the US
Archos has been going through some tough times lately, having to reorganize and lay off a quarter of its staff toward the end of last year. You could say that the company is using the spring as a chance for renewal: company Chairman Henri Crohas has picked Deputy CEO Loïc Poirier to replace him in the full CEO position as of May 1st. Poirier's main focus will be on finishing the work that started in 2012, which should concentrate Archos' efforts on its signature tablet business as well as ventures into home automation and smartphones. As if to mark its potential comeback, the company is catering to Americans by shipping its 80 Titanium and 97 Titanium tablets their way alongside the already mentioned GamePad. The 8- and 9.7-inch slates are selling for $169 and $249, with screen size the real differentiatior -- both run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on top of a dual-core 1.6GHz processor and an IPS-based LCD. They won't give a Nexus 10 owner second thoughts, but they include a fair amount of bang for our US bucks.
Archos 101 Titanium pops up in FCC docs, confirms what we already know
You'd think bigger (screen size) would mean better (resolution). But not for Archos' recently announced 10.1-inch Titanium tablet. No, this particular tab, which just surfaced at the FCC, actually sports a comparatively middling 1,280 x 800 IPS display -- when contrasted with the Retina-like screen on the 9.7-inch model, anyway. We've already gotten hands-on with the Android 4.1 slate back at CES last week, so there's no real surprise where specs are concerned: dual-core 1.6GHz Rockchip CPU, quad-core GPU, WiFi b/g/n and a 3.7V Li-ion battery. The main takeaway here? Well, you could be seeing it hit US shores sometime soon, just don't expect any carrier affiliation.
The Daily Roundup for 01.10.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.