It’s been 40 years since the world’s first mobile phone call
On April 3rd 1973, Martin Cooper made the first mobile call on the nine-inch (and 28-ounce) Motorola DynaTAC. Dialing up a rival at AT&T, he apparently said that he was ringing “to see if my call sounds good at your end.” While briefcase-size models had come before it, it’s Motorola’s truly mobile phone that became the go-to power accessory for the likes of Gordon Gekko, Zack Morris and, er, American Psycho‘s Patrick Bateman. Since its heyday, however, the AMPS analog networks that the phone used to run on have now largely disappeared, replaced by digital ones that have added better call clarity, not to mention data connectivity at ever-improving speeds. We’ve come a long way.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Sky News
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China claims world’s longest high-speed rail line, takes travelers 1,428 miles in a workday
China has a thing for pushing the limits of trains. As of today, that includes distance: the country claims to have the world’s longest high-speed rail line. Paying ¥865 ($139) will take you 1,428 miles from Beijing in the north to as far as Guangzhou in the south. The 8-hour, 186MPH trip is technically slower than flying, but it’s cheaper and potentially less stressful than the often protracted airport boarding process. It’s certainly far more viable than the 20-hour rail trip it’s replacing, which could lead to some locals choosing a ground route that wasn’t even a realistic option until now.
[Image credit: Xinhuanet]
Filed under: Transportation
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Gaotie (translated)
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AfterShokz to debut ‘world’s first’ bone-conducting Bluez headphones at CES 2013
At first glance, you might think the guy in the photo above is wearing his sunglasses backwards. However, he’s actually getting hiz groove on with the AfterShokz Bluez, a pair of Bluetooth headphones that transmits audio using bone conduction. We’ve seen the technology before, but never on stereo wireless headsets. Instead of vibrating your eardrums, the Bluez use transducer pads that sit on your cheekbones to send audio directly to your ears. As such, the headphones have an “open-ear” design, presumably to let you hear your surroundings while listening to tunez. If this zoundz intriguing, you can pre-order them for $100 (despite their $129 retail price) from the company’s website, or just wait until January when they will make their official debut at CES 2013.
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Source: AfterShokz
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Leave a commentMushkin shipping ‘world’s first’ 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500
Today, component maker Mushkin announced plans to ship the “world’s first” 480GB mSATA solid-state drive. Priced at a respectable $500, the made-in-the-USA Atlas SSD is expected to ship beginning in early January, and features a SandForce SF-2281 controller with an unthrottled IOPS, a SATA III (6Gb/s) interface and a three-year warranty. At a little over $1 per gigabyte, ultrabook power users looking to push their storage capacity beyond its current 256GB boundary may want to keep an eye out for this burly option in the coming weeks. For more details, check out the press release after the break.
Continue reading Mushkin shipping ‘world’s first’ 480GB mSATA SSD in January for $500
Via: AnandTech
Source: Mushkin
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Nokia Lumia 920 ships first to Rogers, makes Canadians the world’s vanguards for $100
What, did you think Americans or Europeans would get the first crack at the Lumia 920? Continuing a recent pattern of Canadians getting devices first, Rogers has confirmed that some of its stores will have Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone 8 hardware in stock on October 30th — that’s almost immediately, folks. If you call and find you’re near one of the choice few shops carrying the 920, it will cost you either $100 Canadian on a lengthy 3-year contract or $550 outright to walk away with Microsoft’s poster child. Nearly the only drawbacks to being a pioneer are the black-only color choice (sorry, still no patriotic red) and Rogers’ current lock on the initial launch, although Microsoft’s own mention of the Lumia coming to Rogers “and others” gives us hope that Bell and Telus will follow soon. It’s a small price to pay for making even the Finns slightly jealous.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia
Nokia Lumia 920 ships first to Rogers, makes Canadians the world’s vanguards for $100 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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World’s Colors in a Single Cubic Book: RGB Colorspace Atlas
In the design business, having an original color tool could do wonders. We ran across these interesting looking 8 x 8 x 8-inch (20.3 x 20.3 x 20.3 cm) hard-back cubes presenting the RGB color scheme in a page-by-page medium and thought of sharing the idea further. Designed by American artist Tauba Auerbach, the RGB Colorspace Atlas is said to contain all the colors out there, each of them easy to reach by simply flipping the pages. According to the designer, the project was achieved in collaboration with designer Daniel E. Kelm and the books were bound by Daniel E. Kelm assisted by Leah Hughes at the Wide Awake Garage. The airbrushed cloth cover and page edges of the cube contribute to an effortless handling, despite the considerable dimensions of the item. We are still a bit puzzled regarding the printing process (how does one capture RGB using CMYK ?), but hope you guys will help us with an explanation. Aside from that, do you find the idea practical?
You’re reading World’s Colors in a Single Cubic Book: RGB Colorspace Atlas originally posted on Freshome.
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Leave a commentWorld’s collide as Super Mario Bros and Portal become Mari0 (video)
Remember when the amalgamation of Super Mario Bros and a Portal gun seemed like the most amazing, yet impossibly lucid pipe dream? As it turns out, the cake named “Mari0″ by developer-house Stabyourself actually wasn’t a lie. But lest you thought this just a redo of Super Mario Bros with a skosh of Aperture science thrown in, you’d be oh-so-wrong. How’s about four-player co-op, in addition to a level editor and a bevy of hilarious modes that’ll put a new twist on an old favorite. And could it get any better than available for the sweet sweet price of free? If that’s not a ringing endorsement, we don’t know what is. If you’re still reading this, we’re unsure why you’re still here — get your game on at the source link below.
World’s collide as Super Mario Bros and Portal become Mari0 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Storage Options intros Scroll Extreme, says it’s ‘world’s most powerful tablet under £200′
Gallery: Scroll Extreme press shots
Storage Options intros Scroll Extreme, says it’s ‘world’s most powerful tablet under £200′ originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 01:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wilson Electronics introduces the world’s first LTE signal booster ahead of CES
Continue reading Wilson Electronics introduces the world’s first LTE signal booster ahead of CES
Wilson Electronics introduces the world’s first LTE signal booster ahead of CES originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Leave a commentInhabitat’s Week in Green: 5 megawatt solar roof, driverless electric cars and ten of the world’s craziest Christmas trees
Solar-powered buildings heated up this week as Inhabitat reported that Apple will crown its new Cupertino headquarters with a 5 megawatt solar roof, and we took a peek inside a sun-powered prefab pod home set in the Italian Alps. We also showcased several fresh examples of wintry architecture this week as we brought you six amazing buildings made from ice and snow and we learned that BIG’s waste-to-energy ski slope incinerator was scrapped due to environmental concerns. We also showcased an innovative shelf for interiors made from movable pins, a set of awesome night lights made from retrofitted vintage cameras, and since the holidays are on the way we shared a kit that will help you make your own geodesic gingerbread house!
Speaking of the holiday season, this week we rounded up the world’s 10 craziest Christmas trees made from recycled objects, and we brought you photos of a massive luminous Xmas tree in Lithuania made from 40,000 plastic bottles. We also brought you a guide for making your own DIY terrarium Christmas ornaments, and if you’re looking for cool techy gifts to stick beneath the tree you won’t want to miss Theo Jansen’s 3d-printed miniature Strandbeest wind walking robots and this fun wooden iPhone toy for tots.
In other news, eco transportation blasted off to the future as Zapata Racing unveiled a set of insane water-propelled rocket boots that will send you soaring like a superhero and Audi and BIG unveiled plans for a network of driverless electric cars and luminous high-tech roadways. We were also excited to announce that the Nissan Leaf was named Japan’s Car of the Year at the Tokyo Motor Show, we saw Daimler unveil plans for a new E-Cell hybrid with inductive charging, and Smart shared a sneak peek of their upcoming “For-US” compact electric pickup truck.
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: 5 megawatt solar roof, driverless electric cars and ten of the world’s craziest Christmas trees originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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