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MSI Wind gets a price: $610
We've gotten a ton of info on the MSI Wind, but so far pricing details have been a closely-guarded secret. Good thing we've got wonder-importers Expansys to help us out, though -- they've just listed the Wind at the pretty decent price of $610. That's not bad for a 10-inch screen, 1.6GHz processor (supposedly an Atom), 1GB of RAM, an 80GB disk and XP, but let's hope things get even cheaper when this thing hits the US for real.[Via UMPC Portal]
MSI Wind gets Turkish video hands-on
Curious enough about the MSI Wind to sit through a video of a couple of nerds talking about it endlessly in Turkish? Check it out after the break -- and we don't want to hear a word about how you want those three and a half minutes of your life back.[Via Mike Cane 2008]
MSI outs official Wind specs, mum on price and dates
MSI just got right with the gadget lorf by going official with its Wind Notebook. Launched anonymously at Intel's IDF, the Wind is pretty much everything we've heard: about 1-kg weight; XP-only (at the moment); LED-backlit, 8.9- and 10-inch 1,024 x 600 displays; and traditional 80GB, 2.5-inch hard disk. MSI also claims to have a superior keyboard and battery life compared to the competition. Yup, they're looking right at you Eee PC. No word on price or delivery date though we previously heard Juneish (with Atom CPU launch) for between $470 to $1,099. [Via DigiTimes]
MSI's 8.9- to 10-inch Wind breaks in Q2 for less than $500
Good news: the price of those 7- to 9-inch ultra-portables are in free-fall as Dell, ASUS, HP, Everex and others race to the bottom. Bad news: your $500ish wad currently takes home a thick, boxy slab. Fortunately, MSI is looking to change all that when it ships the sleek Wind laptop in Q2. In other words, June when Intel ships the Atom processor. Prices are expected to range from $470 to $1,099 for your choice of 8.9-inch and 10-inch panels with 1,024 x 768 pixel resolutions, 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD drive, processors ranging from 1GHz to 1.6GHz, and 1GB of memory. At least that's the last we heard. Word to the wise: wait until summer for your ultra-portable purchase -- competition will be fierce and the waves will be tasty.
Intel breaks Wind with first Atom-based ultra-portables in the wild
There you have it, the first laptop we've seen running Intel's long awaited Atom processors. We're pretty sure that's MSI's Wind PC on display in Shanghai for Intel's Developer Forum. Of course, we've already seen Atom listed as the CPU in the G10IL and new 8.9-inch Eee PC among others. But there's nothing like seeing the genuine article running on Intel's newest silicon. If you're a fan of the Eee PC form factor then you'll be stoked by what looks like a truck-load of 7- to 9-inch ultra-portables on way. Click the read link to see a few more.
Maglev wind turbines 1000x more efficient than normal windmills
We've seen a couple innovative wind power solutions pop up, but none that claim to offer the benefits of maglev wind turbines, which use full-permanent magnets to nearly eliminate friction by "floating" the blades above the base. According to developers, the technology is capable of scaling to massive sizes, with a proposed $53M turbine able enough to replace 1000 traditional windmills and power 750 thousand homes. Additional benefits include the ability to generate power with winds as slow as three miles per hour, operational costs some 50 percent cheaper than windmills, and an estimated lifespan of 500 years. That all sounds great, but the real proof will come when these things get put to use, which may happen sooner than you'd think: Development is proceeding rapidly in both the US and China, with Chinese power company Zhongke Hengyuan Energy Technology currently building a $5M factory to produce the turbines in capacities from 400 to 5,000 watts.
LG intros two i-mode handsets, meet the KG291 and KE590
LG's pressed a bit of love into Italian provider Wind's hand recently with the exclusive LG KE590 (left) and KG291 i-mode handsets. The KG291 slider features a 1.3 megapixel camera, 7 MB of internal memory to store pics, MP3's and vids -- plus microSD expansion -- Bluetooth, and 4 / 100 hours of talk and standby time. The pricier KE590 comes equipped with a 2 megapixel shooter, 56 MB of memory, and the same talk and standby time as the KG291. Both handsets are tri-band GSM jobbies, and with the KG's price marked at €99 (roughly $150) and no word on the KE -- though we expect a similar entry level price point -- we expect these'll be popular once they land in Wind retail shops.[Via UnwiredView]
Excess wind energy to be stored underground for future use
We've seen some fairly impressive uses of wind power, but a group in Iowa is looking to actually capture and preserve excess wind energy for use when demand peaks. At the Iowa Stored Energy Park, a number of local utilities is "building a system that will steer surplus electricity generated by a nearby wind farm to a big air compressor," which will be held deep below the ground for future use. The project is being backed by the Energy Department, but more than a hundred municipal utilities in surrounding states are shelling out $200 million to construct the 268-megawatt system. As it stands, Iowa's compressed air energy storage (CAES) installation will be the first of its kind when it's completed in 2011, but there's already work being done in Texas to build a similar unit.[Via Ecotality]
Neonode N2 launches in Europe on Vodafone, Wind
Intelligently waiting until after the iPhone lived out its (first) 15 minutes of fame, Neonode has just now went and threw a launch party to celebrate the official debut of the Neonode N2. Yesterday, the firm went wild at the Babae Club in Athens, Greece as it celebrated with MyPhone (its distributor for south-eastern Europe) and announced that the handset would play nice with "operators such as Vodafone and Wind." Sadly, exact releases dates were obviously muddled through all the jumpin' and jivin' going on, but the N2 should be in "select shops in south-eastern Europe" very soon, with the rest of Europe and "other major markets" to follow suit shortly thereafter.[Thanks, Sleepless]
Phantom Hourglass Japanese boxart FTW
It's stylish. It's classy. But we here at DS Fanboy think that Link is getting a little too cute, even yon cel-shaded version. This cuteness is only made more creepy by the fact there is an old man with oddly-styled facial hair standing right next to him. Damn sailors.This boxart reminds us heavily of Wind Waker, and it makes us wonder how big a component sailing is going to be in this new adventure. Crossing the ocean became a bit tedious in Wind Waker, so here's hoping the process has been streamlined (LOLpun) a bit.[Thanks, Braden!]%Gallery-3279%
DS Daily: Legend of Zelda: Item of Great Importance
According to the latest news about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the eponymous hourglass keeps your hearts from draining while in a cursed underwater shrine. Link must go from island to island to find sand so he can keep the hourglass full. Basically, he is addicted to sand.That sounds like an interesting gameplay mechanic, lending the game a sort of Fushigi no Dungeon-esque resource upkeep element (like keeping the light glowing in The Nightmare of Druaga.) However, that's not the issue for today's discussion. We want to talk about the item as it relates to Zelda's history. In most Zelda games since the N64 one, there has been an item in the title that is central to the game's plot and/or gameplay-- the Ocarina of Time and the very similar Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, the Minish Cap, and now the Phantom Hourglass. Do you think basing the game (and its title) around a single item is a neat storytelling convention, or lazy formulaic design? We are declaring this a Safe Zelda Bashing Zone. Don't be afraid to say something negative about Zelda! Here, we'll start: the first one didn't even have a subtitle, and it's still the best one.[News item via NeoGAF]
Proposals would turn highways into wind farms
Clogged highways and frustratingly waiting while your gas needle plummets to empty usually doesn't conjure up thoughts of green, but it seems like these very roads could become the source of a lot more energy. Several recent student designs have proposed that major roadways be retrofitted with various forms of wind energy collection devices, ranging from overhead turbines that collect energy from quickly-moving cars below to barrier panels (pictured after the jump) that harness the wind from closely passing vehicles moving in opposite directions. Ideally, the wind energy could then be sent back out to the grid to power nearby communities, light-rail transportation systems, or even intelligent billboards. Of course, most of these ideas are still in the research phase, and even if proven feasible, we can't imagine the up-front costs (or inconveniences of installing these things) to be minor, but we're sure that government subsidies should be able to to lend a helping hand.Read - Barrier panel prototype, via InhabitatRead - Overhead turbine design, via Inhabitat
Blow Light: the wind generated LED toy
While the message of living a greener life seems to be pounded into our ears on a regular basis, it's never too early to get your offspring in on the energy-conserving fun. The Blow Light toy from Nigel's Eco Store features a simplistic, kid-friendly design that's sure to require a lot of attention, as the miniature pinwheel doesn't light up and excite without a little effort on your youngster's behalf. The internal blue and green LED lights remain dormant until a gust of wind (or hot air) starts the spinning, subsequently lighting up the device and eliciting smiles all around. Of course, with no batteries required, the price on this uber-green toy tends to be a bit higher than the mass market alternatives, but at least your £9.99 ($20) won't be fueling the proverbial fire.[Via Inhabitat]
Micro-turbines output micro-electricity for Hong Kong's micro-apartments
It's not just the fitness club types in Hong Kong attempting to generate a bit of renewable energy, inventor Lucien Gambarota -- the very man responsible for converting all that cardio into voltage -- is showing off some micro-wind turbines for even more power bill relief. There's currently only a single wind turbine on a small outer island providing energy to Hong Kong, the rest of the city just doesn't get enough wind for traditional turbines to do any good. Not so with Gambarota's new micro-turbines, which can generate electricity with as little as 2 mph of wind, and keep turning at all times from the slightest of breezes. The little windmills are actually gearwheels, mounted in a array. They can be arranged in different shapes and sizes, from two to thousands of square meters. The energy is put into a battery, which then powers appliances in the building. Currently the micro-turbines go for about $25 for a set of 20 gearwheels, but that price should drop considerably once they begin to be mass produced.[Thanks, nvyseal]
Venturi readies the launch of its solar / wind-powered Eclectic vehicle
Leave it to the makers of the first "solar shuttle" to actually hit its production schedule, as Venturi Automobiles is officially readying its Eclectic vehicle for a June 2007 launch. The "world's first" commercially available autonomous vehicle sports a "stylish, urban design," room for three, and never needs to get friendly with an AC outlet (although it can, if necessary) or fuel pump. This puppy is powered and recharged completely by renewable energy, be it sunlight or wind, as it houses a bevy of NiMH (NIV-7) liquid-cooled batteries that can be juiced up from the 2.5 square meters of photovoltaic cells atop its roof or a set of wind turbines that can be fixed to the vehicle while parked. Right on target, the company plans to launch a "limited run" of 200 in June, which will be white in color and demand around €24,000 ($31,421). As the learning curve kicks in and production costs sink, the vehicle price should ring up closer to €15,000 ($19,638) when it goes full scale in 2009, while a "single-seat utilitarian version" will compliment the flagship unit sometime in the future. So if you're thinking about ditching the whole "fill your car up" thing, you may still have time to get in on the pre-orders now being accepted for the first 20, but if history proves anything, it's doubtful. [Warning: PDF link][Via AutoblogGreen]
Quiet Revolution's QR5 addresses wind turbine issues
If you ask a person on the street what they think about wind turbines in general terms then the reaction will in most cases be favorable. Ask what they think if someone was about to place wind turbines within direct sight of their home, and the response probably won't be one of glee. Common concerns often include the whooshing sound that regular turbines produce, as well as their divisive visual aesthetics -- some love it, some loath it. A new type of wind turbine intended to address both of these issues is Quiet Revolution's QR5 Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, or VAWT for shawt. The QR5 is smaller, quieter, and way better looking than your typical windmill, plus it should produce the equivalent of its £25,000 price tag in clean energy within 15 years or less. We're down with the futuristic design and the company's noble aims, but we feel that the QR guys should spice up the name of this particular turbine. Our suggestion? Pigeon Dicer, Mark 5.
Smash Bros. Brawl: who's in, who's out
Masashiro Sakurai recently let slip some information about who would not be making the cut come time for Brawl's release, along with who some of the newer cast members are outside of the previously mentioned. We here at The Fanboy don't agree with cutting anyone out of the game, so when we heard that Young Link, Ice Climbers, and Mr. Game & Watch would be getting the boot, we were a little more than upset. The inclusion of three new characters in Young Bowser, Ridley (YES!), and Wind Waker Link are nice, however we just don't understand why anyone has to be cut at all. I think I'm most upset that I won't get to scream 'sauuuuusages' at people in the tone of the famous Kids in the Hall sketch when playing Mr. Game & Watch anymore.[Via Codename Revolution; Thanks BPM and RageOverdose!]
More European carriers agree to cut roaming fees
It looks like the days of bloated roaming fees within Europe are nearly over. Orange, Telecom Italia, Telenor, TeliaSonera, and Wind have joined T-Mobile in an agreement to cap the rates they charge eachother within the European Economic Area – 45 euro cents per minute from October 2006 dropping to 36 euro cents per minute by October 2007. In time, that should result in a savings of nearly 50% for consumers travelling within Europe and from abroad as the proposed cap is extended to operators outside the sub-continent. An independent watchdog group will then monitor fee reductions on the open market and publish an index every six months. And what of Europe's largest carrier, Vodafone? Well, they're apparently sticking to their rather dubious "Vodafone Passport" scheme said to save punters 40% on roaming fees after registering for the service, after a "connection fee" of 75p per call and after April 2007 when the rate cuts would go into effect. Now this isn't the first time the cabal European operators have agreed to lower roaming tariffs so we'll just have to see how this plays. Just remember dear carriers, the world and Viv is watching.
