Well, it takes the cake, but it won’t eat it. The VLC has to maintain its svelte and trim form, you see, as it tips the scales at a mere 830 pounds (376 kg). To put that in perspective, a super lightweight car like the Lotus Elise still weighs in at over 700kg, saying nothing of more conventional passenger cars. It also helps that the Edison2 VLC offers remarkable aerodynamic efficiency too, winning the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize back in 2010.

The next generation VLC improves upon its predecessors in just about every way, getting even better aerodynamic efficiency, a roomier interior and larger wheels. You’ll also notice the unique in-wheel suspension, which improves handling, reduces mass and reduces the overall complexity of the vehicle.

No word on when a consumer-ready model will hit the roads, but Edison2 CEO Oliver Kuttner says the architecture has a “promising future” and that the car “opens up the possibility for a whole new type of car… in a much more responsible, sustainable way to the future.”

[Source]

The post The 830lb. Award-Winning Edison2 Light Car appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In the ongoing effort to provide an increasingly immersive experience at the movie theater that cannot be mirrored at home, select Japanese theaters will be screening Iron Man 3 in what is dubbed the new 4DX format. It takes the concept of Smell-O-Vision and raises it the next level by adding in moving seats that roll, pitch and yaw in time with the onscreen action like how you get with those rides at Universal Studios. You also get strobe lighting and “jets of air and water” that blast into the faces of the patrons in the theater… again, like some of those theme park rides.

As far as the olfactory experience goes, the 4DX-equipped theaters are apparently capable of producing 1,000 different scents. I wonder if it can replicate the wonderful smell of fresh shawarma after a long day’s work. And of course, there’s 3D included in that package too. The 4DX format comes at a premium, naturally, tacking on an extra $13 for the 3D experience and about $10 for the 2D version.

Even if you can’t make your way over to a Japanese theater for Iron Man 3, you’ll soon be able to indulge in the smelly, rocky, spraying 4DX experience in the United States later this year.

[Source]

The post 4DX Japanese Theaters Let You Smell Tony Stark in Iron Man 3 appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The guess is that the NT stands for New Type, as the upgraded Kid’s Walker NT comes with several improvements over the original. First, there is a chest plate that flips up to protect the pilot, which is pretty important when you find yourself in the heat of battle. They’ve also added into two new attachments for the arms: there’s a drill and a gripper. You can probably figure out what those do.

Before you get all excited about sending your 7-year-old into the mech-infested warzone, you should know that the Kid’s Walker NT mech suit can’t actually go anywhere. There are some “leg movements” for realism, but the suit doesn’t walk. So, you’re just a sitting duck with a gripper and a (presumably not-too-sharp) drill. At least little Sally will look the part. The 1.6 meter robot suit retails for $21,000 and weighs in at 180 kg. It’s also available for rental in Japan.

[Source]

The post Video: Kid’s Walker NT Mech Suit for Kids with Upgraded Drill and Gripper appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In an economic forum in Tokyo, Android-co-founder Andy Rubin said, “The exact same platform, the exact same operating system we built for cameras, that became Android for cellphones.” So, I guess products like the Nikon Coolpix S800c and Samsung Galaxy Camera aren’t that far-fetched after all.

The original intention for Android was to provide a platform for a smart camera that would sync easily with computers. Rubin described a 2004 marketing pitch for Android where he spoke of a camera that hooked up to a computer connected to an “Android Datacenter.” However, they decided that the digital camera market “wasn’t actually a big enough market,” but the smartphone market was growing. In either case, Android was designed to be a mass market platform from the get-go.

“We wanted as many cellphones to use Android as possible,” said Rubin. “So instead of charging $99, or $59, or $69 [like how other companies license their software], to Android, we gave it away for free, because we knew the industry was price sensitive.”

[Source]

The post Google Android Was Really Meant for Smart Cameras from the Beginning appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

That’s not all cash, of course, but quite a bit of it actually is. The bid consists of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. This is a bigger bid than the $20.5 billion that Softbank announced it would be willing to offer for a 70% stake in Sprint. Based on these figures, Dish would effectively be paying $4.76 per share for Sprint, which is still lower than the $6.22 at which the stock closed on Friday evening.

The goal is to get some cross-promotion action going on. Dish Network only has a customer base of 14.2 million people, but Sprint has 47.5 million subscribers. If Dish is able to convert some of those Sprint customers away from their current TV providers and over to Dish instead, they come out as quite the winner. Of course, they’d have no problem promoting Sprint to their existing Dish subscribers, too. This kind of cross-promotion is nothing new.

What’s interesting is that whether or not Dish is able to successfully acquire Sprint, it will likely still want to get its beak wet in the wireless business. Dish has already expressed interest in merging with T-Mobile USA and it also had a look at Clearwire. And let’s not forget that Dish owns 40MHz of spectrum in the 2GHz band with no network to run it on.

[Source]

The post Dish Network Wants to Buy Sprint for $25.5 Billion appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

While you could use a set of headphones for some personal aural entertainment, why not share you wonderful music library with the world by using the Scosche boomBOTTLE rugged portable Bluetooth speaker instead? As its name implies, the speaker is effectively shaped like a water bottle and it is designed to fit perfectly in the water bottle cage on your bike. I’m not really sure where you would put your water then–maybe you’d need a camelback or something–but there you have it.

Of course, the rugged speaker doesn’t have to go in the bottle cage on your bike. It can be more versatile than that, taking your tunes wherever life’s adventures may take you. They say it’s well suited for camping, hiking, and otherwise enjoying outdoor activities. There’s a non-slip surface and, even if you drop it, there’s a shock-absorbing exterior, as well as a weatherproof design to handle whatever nature throws at you.

As far as tech specs, you can expect 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge via its pair of 3W speaker drivers, passive subwoofer, and pair of omnidirecitonal diffusers. There’s also a mic in there for Bluetooth handsfree calls. The grey Scosche boomBOTTLE is shipping now for $149.95 with blue, pink, yellow and green versions slated for next month.

[Source]

The post Scosche boomBOTTLE Wireless Speaker Puts Big Sound Between Your Legs appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Game D is being designed to work with the Apple iPad mini, providing it with real console-style controls in a pretty sleek looking package.

The Game D, which is just a working name and will likely change before the final retail offering, is super slim like the Logitech Ultraslim Keyboard for iPad mini, but it discards the QWERTY in favor of a PlayStation-style D-pad and four face buttons, along with the start and select buttons.

Presumably communicating over Bluetooth, the iPad mini can be docked into the Game D one of three ways. First, it can attach magnetically so that the two devices are in line, offering an experience similar to a really big DS or PSP.

Second, there is a keyboard-style slot toward the back of the Game D where you can place the iPad mini in landscape mode on an angle, not unlike how you’d use a Bluetooth keyboard with your iPad. And third, you can use that same slot to put your iPad mini in portrait mode.

Developer Techdy is currently seeking some crowdsourced funding for the project. Pledge a minimum of $39 to secure your own Game D or upgrade to a $59 pledge for the Pro version that comes with backlit keys, vibration feedback and two analog gamepads. The crowdfunding goal is set for $500,000 with a deadline of May 12.

What do you think, could you see yourself getting a “Game D” controller or perhaps there is another iPad Mini gaming controller that has your fancy? Let us know in the comments below!

[Source]

The post iPad Mini Getting Open Source Game D Game Controller Case Combo appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

There is still no firm release date attached to the BlackBerry Q10, but the official splash page on the Fido website has it listed as “available soon.” As a quick refresher, this phone will come with a 3.1-inch 720x720px OLED display, the full QWERTY keyboard, BlackBerry OS 10, a 1.5GHz dual core processor, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, LTE compatibility, 16GB storage, 2GB RAM and a microSD expansion slot good for up to 32GB more storage.

The Fido website has the BlackBerry Q10 listed at $350 on select 2-year Tab24 agreements (presumably on the “Smart” plans) or $650 outright without a Fido agreement. If you click through to the product page, you’ll find that there is an additional offer for existing Fido customers where they can reserve a BlackBerry Q10 for $200 when they renew on a 3-year Fido agreement (presumably they mean the Tab36 with a Max plan). The $25 hardware upgrade fee still applies.

Giving this “available soon” wording, we can probably safely assume that the other Canadian carriers will also be launching the BlackBerry Q10 pretty soon too.

The post BlackBerry Q10 Shows Up on Fido Website, Launch Imminent appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Let me explain. Part of the trouble with having hundreds of thousands of apps available to you is that you’re bound to come across a lot of garbage apps. Even if we cast those “low quality” apps aside, you’re also bound to come across some that might contain malware or some that may violate the terms of service. Both Google and Apple are supposed to stay on top of that sort of thing, but some “bad” apps will always slip through the cracks.

In this way, it’s quite possible that the app count dropping by 60,000 has something to do with a culling of bad apps. More specifically, many of the “missing” apps are coming from the MP3/ringtone category and they might have to do with some copyright infringement issues. Google removes them, the app count goes down, but we’re left with a “cleaner” list of apps. Of course, this is still speculation.

Don’t get me wrong. We still want lots of apps to choose from and that’s going to be one of the biggest hurdles facing second-tier platforms like Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10. When they’re able to get numbers closer to iOS and Android, we might finally see a race with more than two ponies again.

[Source]

The post Google Yanks 60,000 Android Apps from Play Store appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Apparently, the current project is to “lasso” an asteroid from outer space and bring it closer to Earth so they can study it. In “kidnapping” the space rock, NASA can then send astronauts to visit it and to perform various scientific experiments on it. If the asteroid were a living being, we’d almost say this was cruel, but I guess it’s just a rock.

The main goal of this project is to learn enough about asteroids such that we can avoid a catastrophic collision in the future. Many astrophysicists have already warned us about these potential collisions and the kind of impact (terrible pun intended) they could have on the planet as we know it. We need to know how to best deflect an incoming asteroid so that it will avoid crashing into the Earth.

So, NASA wants a pet rock so it can pluck off its wings, poking and prodding at its body for scientific curiosity. I guess we are all kids at heart, even if we have bolder goals and ambitions.

[Source]

The post NASA Plans to Kidnap an Asteroid for Further Study appeared first on Mobile Magazine.