It's been two years since we last heard of the 98-foot-long solar-powered boat, which at the time was gearing up for its big journey around the world. Well, some 19 months and 37,286 miles after setting sail from Monaco, the MS Turanor PlanetSolar has finally made it home. The PlanetSolar broke four Guinness world records along the way, including the all-important "first circumnavigation by solar-powered boat," and it made stops on six continents to promote solar energy. Oh, and the team fended off Somalian pirates in the process, too. Now that it has a moment to catch its breath and soak up some rays at leisure, the MS Turanor could become any number of things -- from the world's largest solar battery to a "green luxury yacht." The latter option would certainly befit its chichi home port.

First solar-powered boat to circle the world pulls into home port, contemplates next move originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 20:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you read our interview with ARM co-founder John Biggs, you know the company behind the processor in mosts smartphones had quite modest beginnings, what with an office in a barn and all. But Biggs is only part of the story, and Reghardware fleshes the rest out with a two-part series on the "unsung heroes of tech": Sophie Wilson, Steve Furber and Herman Hauser, the team behind Acorn Computers, the British PC company that spawned ARM in the mid-80s. We'll let you click through to the source links to take the journey yourself, but here are a few highlights: earning a computer contract with the BBC, happening upon ARM chips' low power consumption by accident and striking gold thanks to a partnership with Apple.

Series revisits ARM's humble beginnings, BBC Micro and all originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 May 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There is one album I listen to more than any other at Gizmodo HQ: Deltron 3030. The futuristic hip-hop journey is a collaboration between (the mind-boggling lyrics of) Del the Funkee Homosapien, (incredible, epic beats from) Dan the Automator, and (the insane disc-spinning skills of) Kid Koala. It's a musical dream team. More »

Continue reading Apogee MiC review

Apogee MiC review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just under two months after being officially unveiled, US Cellular's first LTE device is now shipping. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's a tablet taking the first journey out on the carrier's 4G superhighway, with Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 on sale today online and in stores for... well, entirely too much. Despite being nearly a year old, USCC's Tab 10.1 will sell for a staggering $499.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate, though customers residing in one of its LTE markets will be able to grab it for a Benjamin less. Oh, and did we mention that a two-year agreement (with data plan) is still required? Yeah. Pardon us while we fire up the gravedigger -- we've seen this one before.

Continue reading US Cellular's first LTE device ships, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 claims the honor

US Cellular's first LTE device ships, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 claims the honor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Let's face it, walkie-talkies are far from glamorous, but for large and small enterprises that rely on real-time communication, the WWII artifact remains an integral part of the workday. Now, AT&T has set forth on a journey to give its push-to-talk services a modern makeover, and it's recruiting a few partners to join the quest. In addition to providing PTT-enabled smartphones, the carrier will be testing IP-based technologies that offer workflow automation for tasks such as fleet management and dispatch. Additionally, the system will also offer integration with traditional radio systems such as PMR and LMR, which means an organization won't need to transition its entire crew at once. You can find more about AT&T's hybrid communications system in the PR after the break.

Continue reading AT&T launches pilot program for expanded push-to-talk services

AT&T launches pilot program for expanded push-to-talk services originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boston Dynamics' LS3, better known 'round these parts as AlphaDog, has already wowed us with a display of its stability, power and mobility. Thing is, that little clip we caught back in October took place entirely within the safe and purposefully laid out confines of a laboratory. So, the question is, what happens when you take the rather noisy quadruped outside and strap a bunch of weight to it? Well, pretty much the same thing that happened while it was nice and cozy inside -- the beast powered through the reasonably rugged terrain with nary a hitch. By the end of the tests DARPA hopes to have a mighty robotic porter capable of carrying 400 pounds of gear up to 20 miles without refueling. Though, the trek is expected to be slow and arduous as a full 24 hours is target time frame for such a journey. For full PR and to see the bot in action head on after the break.

Continue reading AlphaDog robo pack-mule begins outdoor trials, noisily hikes into your nightmares

AlphaDog robo pack-mule begins outdoor trials, noisily hikes into your nightmares originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gowalla on Monday confirmed it was recently acquired by Facebook. “About two months ago, my co-founder Scott and I attended F8,” Gowalla co-founder and CEO Josh Williams wrote on the company blog Monday. “We were blown away by Facebook’s new developments. A few weeks later Facebook called, and it became clear that the way for our team to have the biggest impact was to work together. So we’re excited to announce that we’ll be making the journey to California to join Facebook.” Gowalla will begin to “wind down” its services in January but will allow users to export their passport and pin data, stamp collections and photos. Williams said Facebook is not acquiring Gowalla’s user data. Neither Facebook nor Gowalla discussed the terms of the acquisition.

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As NASA prepares to launch the Curiosity rover to explore Mars at the end of the month, a small fleet of Wave Gliders, autonomous sea-faring vehicles, have set sail on an equally audacious journey—swimming unassisted across of the Pacific Ocean. More »

Garmin, the company responsible for helping you navigate to the mall food court, is now hoping to help you work off those cheese fries with the introduction of its $.99 Fit App for Android and iPhone. The mobile app -- which works a lot like the Nike+ -- measures distance, time, calories and speed walked, run, cycled or traveled to capture your calorie burning journey. Connected users can also set goals, track their workouts and share results with others addicted to the burn. In addition to the app, Garmin is rolling out a $49.99 ANT+ adapter for iPhone, which monitors heart rate and cadence when paired with another optional sensor like a footpod. If you can't muster up the energy to try it out right now, we're sure you can at least head on past the break to check out the PR.

Continue reading Garmin launches Fit App, motivates you to lose that freshman fifteen

Garmin launches Fit App, motivates you to lose that freshman fifteen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in May, we caught a glimpse of Acer's TravelMate 8481, rocking an extra thin bezel and 13 hours of battery life for the road-weary sojourner. At the time, Acer was touting a mid-June launch, but we've just received word that the Core i7-packing notebook won't make it into carry-ons until late August. As of now, we've only got UK pricing -- £699, to be exact -- leading us to wonder when the thing will make the journey stateside. As per usual, we will keep you abreast of the details as they roll in. Until then, you can peep the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow

Acer TravelMate 8481 lands late August, £700 price tag in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you know anything about the history of spaceflight, you're probably already familiar with the historic journey of USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who flew around the Earth in 1961, making him the first person to ever travel beyond our planet's atmosphere. While audio recordings of Gagarin's observations exist, there are no video recordings except for those recently shot at the ISS following a similar plot of his trip, directed by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who currently lives on the space station. This video has now been matched up with Gagarin's audio, and made into a film to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his flight, which is on April 12th. The movie will be made available on that date for free download on YouTube.

Film recreation of Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin's historic spaceflight to be shown off next month originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 07:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kevin Gallagher spent six months hiking the Appalachian Trail's 2,200 miles, through snow and sun and wind fellow travelers. Lucky for you, he condensed the entire journey into a remarkable 4:37 of some of the most gorgeous stop-motion nature that the US has to offer. [Vimeo via Wired] More »

Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Play handset hasn’t exactly been a secret, but the journey ends (and begins) today, as it’s finally official. It’s the first Android device to feature Sony’s Playstation Suite gaming app and enviroment, and is scheduled to appear by the end of the year. The Xperia Play runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU with 4-inch 480×854 resolution display. There are, of course, the PSP-like game buttons on the slider part of the phone, a front facing camera, 5 megapixel rear camera, 512MB RAM, and a microSD card slot.

Ever wish you could get a Verizon-labeled phone running on AT&T, and do it with full bars and a 3G no less? Get yourself one of the Dodge's new and free virtual product manuals, available now for iPhone and soon coming to BlackBerry and Android. They're a continuation of the sort of thing Chrysler announced back at CES, just letting you view information about your vehicle and maybe some aftermarket parts too. They're available now for the Durango and Charger, with coverage for the Avenger, Journey, and Grand Caravan coming before the end of the month. Full details about the apps in the PR below, but sadly no information on exactly where we should stick the SIM card in our Droid.

[Thanks, Joe]

Continue reading Dodge sucks at Photoshop: the Verizon Droid with AT&T 3G

Dodge sucks at Photoshop: the Verizon Droid with AT&T 3G originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry folks, it looks like only our grandkid's grandkid's grandkids will be able to take advantage of interstellar travel. Why so long? Because a NASA scientist says it'll take at least 200 years to obtain enough energy to make the journey. More »

While the mobile OS race heats up down here on Earth, Google has taken its attack on the smartphone space to the final frontier — literally. In what can only be described as a stellar publicity stunt, Google launched seven Nexus S smartphones into near space. The devices were fixed to weather balloons and sent over 100,000 feet above the Earth’s surface. Luckily the phones had some company on their journey, as can be seen in the image above showing an Android that tagged along for the ride. The Nexus S phones were equipped with various sensors to see how they would perform on the journey, and they were each running different Google apps such as Google Maps, Google Sky Map and Latitude. In case you were curious, the Nexus S GPS unit managed to function up until about 60,000 feet and the phone remained operational to -50° C. Hit the break for some great HD video of the journey as well as the preparation involved with this mission.

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