Ford to produce smart cars that warn each other of an impending collision

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Transportation,

Ford brought a small fleet of intelligent vehicles to San Francisco to showcase a technology that the company expects will be mainstream in about five years, from most automakers.

Two Ford Focus cars and a Ford Expedition were equipped with a technology called Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC), which basically serves as a car-to-car wireless connection that currently serves as a crash avoidance system in Ford's implementation, and as a wireless toll collection mechanism overseas. Eventually, it could even be used for entertainment purposes.

Although Ford demonstrated the technology in a parking lot outside of AT&T Park, the company isn't alone in developing the technology. Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes, Hyundai, and Kia are all working together, plus truck, bus, and motorcycle companies, said Mike Shulman, the technical leader in Ford's Active Safety Research and Innovation department.

"Next year, we're doing a model deployment in a city where there will be thousands of equipped vehicles and trucks and buses all sending out these messages, and then the goal in 2013 is to start a regulation that will require this on all vehicles. Then, maybe consumer electronics companies would start designing products that could be retrofitted onto existing cars, because everyone sees the potential," Shulman said.

"Maybe five years from now, cars will be equipped with this," Shulman added.

Click to continue reading Ford to produce smart cars that warn each other of an impending collision

Lark silent alarm clock system launching June 14 at Apple Store

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Apple, Smart Home, Science,

If you're tired of waking up your significant other (or your significant other waking you up!) when the alarm clock goes off, you may want to take a peek at the Lark. They're calling it a silent "un-alarm" clock, and the promise is that it will wake you up without disturbing those around you. How does it work? You wear a sleep sensor on your wrist, and dock your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into the cradle. The device will now act as a bedside clock, while the sensor tracks all sorts of into about your sleep cycle. When it's time to wake up, the sensor on your write starts to vibrate, which is enough to wake you from your slumber. 

The device will be available in Apple Stores starting on June 14th, and it'll cost $129. We've already got one in for review, so look for our thoughts on the Lark shortly.

Read More | Lark

AMD looking to enter tablet game with their Densa chip

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Handhelds,

Is Advanced Micro Devices finally making a major push into the tablet market? That's the signal sent by leaked product roadmap slides showing plans for an AMD tablet chip codenamed Desna that surfaced on NGOHQ.com last week.

The slides don't offer any specs for AMD's Z-Series accelerated processing unit, or APU, nor do they name a release date other than the heading "2011 AMD HD Tablet Platform Overview."

Here's what we do know. AMD thinks Desna is well-suited for both consumer media tablets and devices built for business use. The chip maker is playing up its graphics prowess with promises of "smooth streaming HD video," AdobeFlash 10.2 acceleration, Microsoft Office 10 visual enhancements, and support for DirectX 11 and Windows 7 Effects.

Desna also runs accelerated HTML 5 and Internet Explorer 9, while "leveraging the Microsoft Windows application base," which sounds a bit like AMD saying, "we don't actually have an app store for this chip."

The Z-Series platform's commercial play seems to be summed up with promises of "full integration and support in IT environments," "unparalleled versatility and security," and "enhanced productivity."

Click to continue reading AMD looking to enter tablet game with their Densa chip

Deal of the Day: $240 off Dell XPS 15z ultraslim laptop

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, PC / Laptop,

Dell just launched their brand new XPS 15z laptop, and if you've been clamoring for a super-slim Windows machine, you're gonna wanna sit up and pay attention. Click on over to get an 18% discount on the Dell XPS 15z laptop. It's powered by an Intel Sandy Bridge processor, GeForce GT525M graphics, and has a 1080p display. If you're still waiting for details on thickness, well, it's less than an inch thick. That's why we're making this our Deal of the Day. These usually sell for $1337.99, and this 18% discount brings the price down to $1099.99, saving you a nice $238:

Dell XPS 15z laptop for $1,099

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

iCloud: Can Apple make the cloud mainstream?

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Editorial, Features, Internet, Music,

I've long since stopped kvetching over the number of things Apple chief executive Steve Jobs can attach an "i" to and call his own. The maverick CEO's track record is just too darn good. Now that we know that Apple's iCloud is a real thing, there's no sense in wondering how Jobs can have the gall to rebrand cloud computing. I'd rather focus on what Apple will do with the cl...er... iCloud now that Apple has adopted it as its own.

Is Apple new to the cloud? If you accept that at the most fundamental level, cloud computing is simply a matter of thin clients (hardware or software) accessing Internet-based services and intelligence, then the answer is no. Consider Apple's reliance on streaming services for Apple TV's TV show and movie rentals, or the way genius playlists work.

iCloud, which Apple will officially unveil at next week's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), will be more, and streaming content is only the beginning. Obviously, we expect some sort of cloud-based, access-anywhere music library. Apple may even cave and offer a subscription-based music service. These plans will only succeed if Apple has done what Google failed to do with Google Music Beta: convince the major labels to let consumers store and access purchased (and rented) music from central servers.

I think music labels fear this not only because they worry about losing further control of the digital bits that make up their vast song libraries, but because no one will ever buy more than one copy of a song again, and if they get subscription access, they're done buying music—period.

Click to continue reading iCloud: Can Apple make the cloud mainstream?

iWork apps come to iPhone and iPod touch

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Productivity, App Updates, Apple, $9.99,

If you're an iPhone or iPod touch user who's been clamoring for the arrival of iWork on your device, you'll be happy to know that Apple has released updated to Pages, Keynote, and Numbers that not only function on the iPad, but also on Apple mobie devices:

“Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

The apps are universal, so if you've already bought any (or all) of them for your iPad, there's no need to spend any more money. Just update the apps, and they'll install on your iPhone or iPod touch through iTunes, or you can download them directly from the App Store on those devices at no additional cost.

The most interesting thing about this? iWork for iPhone was supposed to be released at WWDC this coming Monday, but it got released early because Apple didn't have enough time in the keynote to cover it. That must mean something else just got a higher priority. We'll see on Monday!

Deal of the Day: 50% off Xperia Play smartphone

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Hot Deals, Video Games,

The Deal of the Day today features the newly-released Xperia Play Android smartphone from Sony Ericcson. This is the first Playstation-certified mobile phone (which is why many have dubbed it the Playstation Phone) which is awesome in itself, but what's even better is the price. You end up saving $400 on the Xperia Play full price, and $100 off the two-year contract price as well. This is the best price we've seen for the Xperia Play. If you're looking for a great Android device that also doubles as what pretty much amounts to a PSP, this is your phone. Aside from playing Playstation games, this is one of the new devices that's running Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box. Other specs include a Snapdragon II 1GHz CPU with Adreno 205 GPU, 5MP camera w/ autofocus & LED flash on back (VGA front-facing), 8GB microSD card pre-installed (up to 32GB supported), stereo sound, support for multi-player gaming, and more:

Save $400 on Xperia Play smartphone

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.

Apple iCloud officially debuting at WWDC

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop, Software,

This morning, Apple put out a press release letting the world know that they'll be showing off iOS 5, OS X Lion, and iCloud, their long-awaited cloud service/MobileMe revamp, next week at WWDC. Oddly enough, Apple only went as far as naming iCloud, and called it an "upcoming cloud services offering." Now, we aren't expecting them to go into full detail in a press release, but why even name it at all? We're guessing it's because Apple really wants to set the expectation that WWDC will be focusing on software, softening the blow that will inevitably come when the masses are complaining about the lack of an iPhone 5 hardware reveal. The press release lets us know Apple's WWDC intentions and plans, and sets the expectations accordingly.

WWDC kicks off in six days, and of course, we'll have details of all the announcements as they're made. By the way, the press release also confirms that the incomparable Steve Jobs will be taking the stage at WWDC.

Nintendo DS Lite now just $99

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,

Quick update for you mobile gaming fans - the Nintendo DS Lite is now $99. Nintendo announced the price drop today, ahead of next weeks E3. It's a great price for a fantastic portable console, but we have to wonder--does this mean we might see a Nintendo 3DS price drop next week? It's no secret that the sales on Nintendo's new flagship console have been less than stellar.

Read More | Nintendo DS Lite

Deal of the Day: Save $300 on Dell Vostro 230 desktop PC

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Displays, Hot Deals, PC / Laptop,

The Deal of the Day today features a significant discount on the Dell Vostro 230 desktop PC series. You end up saving $300 on a Vostro 230 mini tower or slim tower that is configured to be over $699. Included in the price is a 23-inch Dell monitor, and shipping is free! Just be sure to use coupon code RBGFF90MV391F9 during checkout:

Save $300 on Dell Vostro 230 desktop PC

Don’t forget, if you’re looking for other deals, be sure to check out our Newegg Promo Code thread. Oh, and if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @TechPromos for the latest deals, or you can Like TechPromos on Facebook.