Filed under: GPS, Transportation

If you’ve balked at the prices automakers are charging for integrated navigation systems, you should really take a look at what ¥300,000 ($2,746) would buy you in 1981. That atrocity you see above was an actual option in Honda’s Accord during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and while it didn’t sync up with any satellites, it did help to guide you along in some form or another. The Electro Gyrocator, as it was so eloquently named, accepted transparencies of maps and utilized a gas gyroscope that allowed the map to move with the motion of the car and plot your progress. Once a certain map ran out of road, you just popped the next one in and kept on cruisin’. And here we are kvetching about whether our portable navigator has 10 or 11 million POIs…

[Via Autoblog]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Storage

We’re not sure this is still relevant — the patent was filed in May of 2006 — but the USPTO has just published a patent application from Apple detailing a number of different 8cm to 12cm optical disk adapters. The application, credited to Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division, says that since most software doesn’t take up all of the available storage on a disk, it would be cheaper and simpler to use the 8cm disks when appropriate — but that having to ship a standard adapter for slot-loading drives reduce any costs, because they’re the same size as 12cm disks. The solution is to make the adapters smaller when they’re not in use, and the filing goes on to detail several different folding and multi-part takes on the idea. Considering that such an adapter would make things slightly more complicated for the vast majority of Apple’s all-slot-loading installed base, we can’t see these ever actually shipping, but it’s still an interesting idea.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Networking

Remember that blisteringly fast channel bonding modem Comcast showed off earlier this year? Turns out that the firm’s CEO is apparently aiming to roll out internet services that can reach up to 160Mbps down / 120Mbps up sometime in 2008. As in, next year. In a recent interview with Fortune, Brian Roberts stated that service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology would start “rolling out” sometime in 2008, and casually noted that it should provide “more than enough bandwidth to do multiplayer online gaming.” Additionally, Cable Digital News explains that the firm has plans to cover some 20-percent of its footprint with the uber-quick service before 2009, and while we’re left to guess what areas will be covered, we’d bet locales fetching FiOS could entertain some competition. Granted, we’ve still got aways to go before we can go toe-to-toe with a certain Swede, but we’ll take any progress we can get.

[Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of AFP / BBC]
Read - Fortune interviews Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
Read - Comcast closes in on 100Mbit/s

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Portable Audio

As far as we know, Evergreen’s Business Card MP3 Player doesn’t come pre-loaded with Flight of the Conchords’ most relevant jam, but you can’t deny it’d be a great fit. This all-white, ultra-simplistic DAP checks in at 86- x 55- x 6-millimeters, weighs just 36-grams and includes 1GB of storage space. You’ll also find a flip-out USB 2.0 connector, internal speaker and some sort of recording function. Slip one into your tight leather jacket pocket for a steep $126.19 — it should make sorting the recycling much less tedious.

[Via AkihabaraNews]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Hip-hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan struggled to write their new album 8 Diagrams - because it was their first since the sudden death of founding member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The surviving eight bandmates wrote a tribute to the late rapper - real name Russell Tyrone Jones - who died of an accidental overdose whilst recording at the group’s New York studio in 2004.

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On Tuesday, November 6, Columbia Records released “Back Country,” the first official live concert recording from the platinum certified and Grammy nominated singer/songwriter John Ondrasik and his band Five For Fighting.

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Filed under: Cellphones

Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off — or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile’s CEO felt that the “iPhone model was not suitable for China,” but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on — surprise, surprise — a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have “denied newspaper reports” claiming otherwise. ‘Course, we’ve got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there’s still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess.

[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama has heaped praise on a new Mount Everest documentary, narrated by movie hunk Orlando Bloom. The new DVD, Everest: A Climb for Peace, has been hailed as a “tremendous achievement” by the spiritual guru.

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Filed under: Ask Engadget, Cellphones, Features

You might’ve noticed the recent uptick in mobile industry news, which comes courtesy of the annual Mobius conference currently taking place in Amsterdam. It’s pretty clear that the future is bright, what with 700MHz, 4G, a new Windows Mobile, Android, and a 3G iPhone all on the way, but what about the here and now? What we’re wondering is:

“What’s the best 3G smartphone currently available in the States?”

And yes, we mean 3G. You know, that hip cool thing that Apple isn’t terribly fond of, which brings high speed internets, effective tethering, streaming video and music downloads on the run — while supposedly beating battery life to a pulp. We’re also talking about what’s available in the here and now, but it could very well just be time to wait for the next great thing to come along, so be sure to let us know if that’s the case for you. If you’d your own question answered, you can to hit us up at ask at engadget dawt com.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

It’s been a tick since we’ve seen a swank new projector from SIM2, but on paper, it looks like the wait was worth it. The firm’s new-generation version of the Grand Cinema C3X (dubbed C3X 1080) features a gorgeous Giorgio Revoldini-designed chassis, TI’s brand new DarkChip 4 DLP device, a 10-bit video processor, HD scaling and deinterlacing capabilities, 1080p24 support, a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and color-management software that enables installers to “precisely match each projector to its home theater environment.” Additionally, you’ll find a pair of selectable HDCP-compliant HDMI jacks, component / S-Video / composite / VGA ports, RS-232 / USB control sockets, IR-sensor inputs, 12-volt trigger outputs and an optical digital audio socket. This 22-pounder, which ships in high-gloss gunmetal, black, red and gold, is likely to keep your eyes affixed for days on end, but only if you’ve got $31,995 to spare. Check out a few more colors in the gallery over at Engadget HD, and watch the drool, will ya?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Nicole Kidman is thrilled to have perfect vision after recently undergoing LASIK surgery to correct her poor sight. Kidman had severely blurry vision before the surgery, and insists the procedure has changed her life.

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Katie Price purposely flashed her panties outside of a London club last night. I guess since she’s getting a breast reduction, she figured she’d show off her vagina. Makes sense. But seriously, what is she even doing? Is there a toilet on that van or something and she really has to pee? Or is that a hemorrhoid
donut – Holy shit, it is! Whiskey. I need whiskey now! Pour it in my eyes! Hold on, brain, liquor’s coming! Don’t stop pouring until I forget my name. If I try to dry-hump the coffee table, that means it’s working.

Country star Billy Ray Cyrus traded a promising baseball career for one in music, after a voice in his head told him to pick up a guitar. The singer is convinced it was his calling to be a singer, and has no regrets about ditching his plans to be a major league catcher.

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Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers wants to play young star Freddie Highmore’s father again - when he’s in his 60s. The Mission: Impossible 3 star played the 15-year-old’s dad in acclaimed new movie August Rush, and he insists Highmore is set to become one of the world’s greatest actors.

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Filed under: Features, Gaming

There’s only a select few titles that are really worth obsessing over for nearly half a year, but apparently, Rock Band is indeed a member of that upper echelon. After months of drooling over images of the game’s accompanying hardware assortment, the star-studded title has finally landed on store shelves, and according to Electronic Arts, copies haven’t been hanging around for long. In a report posted yesterday, EA noted that it moved “hundreds of thousands” of boxes over the Thanksgiving weekend, and judging by most every review we’ve seen, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. ‘Course, with so much critical hardware packed in, it’s not terribly surprising to hear that some early adopters found a few flaws, but it seems that EA has fessed up to the issues and is offering VIP treatment (read: immediate replacements) to those with jacked up axes.

Now that you’ve had some time to work out those vocal cords, brush up on your drum rolls and mosh in your own living room, inquiring minds are dying to know how you would have done things differently. We’ve already given you a shot to vouch for your rhythm game of choice, but haters and posse members alike can feel free to step up to the proverbial microphone and voice your wishes. Would you have thrown in a Telecaster rather than a Strat? How about embedding an accelerometer in the microphone in order to accumulate kudos for mindless twirling? Totally bummed by the omission of a wildly flamboyant mic stand a la Steven Tyler? Whatever your beef, don’t hold back on this one — your All Access pass to remixing Rock Band has (un)officially been granted.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

NEW YORK (AP) - An auction at Christie’s of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia from some of the hottest bands of the 1960s and ’70s hauled in big bucks Friday, including $20,000 for a Jimi Hendrix album and more than $4,000 for a Rolling Stones‘ T-shirt.

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Hey there, Miranda! More than a shout-out, it’s a musical coup for Nickelodeon’s convergent hit series iCarly, starring Miranda Cosgrove– and of course for character Carly Shay’s web show within the show-

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Eva Mendes was spotted leaving a private gym in West Hollywood yesterday. It’s been rumored she’s pregnant, and I believe it. That’s definitely a baby bump she’s hiding behind her purse. Of course, I generally leave observations like that to a real doctor. I’m just a guy who likes to lay around the house all day drinking beer in a lab coat. I tell my girlfriend I’m learning way more than I would at any old medical school. Though I think when I broke my arm the other day and poured Ny-Quil on it she knew something was up. I knew I should’ve used Pepto-Bismol.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Nonwriting staff members of ”The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” became the latest casualties of the four-week Hollywood writers strike when they were laid off Friday.

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