Tesla bucks industry standard with new charging system for Model S

At a time when most EV manufacturers are converging toward charging station conformity, Tesla is still marching to the beat of its own drum. Late last month, the company unveiled a new plug and charger that looks notably different from the J1772 connector -- the SAE International standard you'll find on most electric cars, including the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. The new system, which will be available for the upcoming Model S, consists of a lightweight plug and wall-mounted unit that can supply 240 volts at up to 80 amps. It also features a comparatively thin cable that promises to deliver fast charging at 480 volts, which, according to the company, should give the Model S an extra boost. When connected to a 240 volt outlet, the car will be able to re-juice at a rate of 62 miles of travel per hour of charging. And while its streamlined aesthetics may signal a shift away from the J1772, Tesla's new charger does feature standard connectors for 120 volt and 240 volt outlets, and will ship with an adapter for industry standard plugs. So why did the manufacturer choose to ignore the J1772? CEO Elon Musk certainly has his reasons. Speaking to the New York Times, Musk poetically described the standard connector as "absolutely terrible, extremely ugly and low power." Tesla's system, by contrast, is more like "a beautiful advanced alien artifact that arrived in the middle of the night." He then went on to say how he really feels. Read more, at the source link below.

Tesla bucks industry standard with new charging system for Model S originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/07/tesla-bucks-industry-standard-with-new-charging-system-for-model/

Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn Simone Temme Heidemarie Stegmann

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite ASCII extension
Have you ever wondered what the Web was like before the Mosaic Web browser? If you were born in the last 20-odd years, or you only discovered your inner geek recently, did you miss out on monochrome monitors and the dial-up BBS era? Well, here's your chance to get a sneak peek at history: grab the ChromeLite extension and marvel as the entire Web is transformed into ASCII characters.

Now, ChromeLite isn't really all that functional. For the most part, it simply strips images and converts text into a monospaced terminal font. There are a few Easter eggs inserted -- such as a fun message at the bottom of YouTube (image after the break) -- and some fun ASCII art, but that's about it. Rather oddly, most JavaScript continues to work -- so you can still enjoy Google Instant Search!

ChromeLite was actually made by Google as an April Fools' joke -- and indeed, an annoying 'you can uninstall this!' message appears at the top of every page -- but we're kind of hoping that Google, or another developer, takes ChromeLite and turns it into a real ASCII browsing extension with configurable settings. If anything, it will provide an easy way to save bandwidth and CPU time.

Continue reading ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear

ChromeLite: experience the ASCII Web of yesteryear originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/04/chromelite-experience-the-ascii-web-of-yesteryear/

Edgar Betz Antonia Koppe Gertrud Hölzl Ulrike Kellner

With Soulo Your iPad 2 Can Fulfill Its Karaoke Destiny [Ipad]

With the addition of Soulo's wireless microphone, the iPad 2 finally becomes a truly portable Karaoke solution, freeing the untalented singers of the world from bars and sleazy restaurants. It might even help with their performances too. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MNCOiPJ669c/with-soulo-your-ipad-2-can-fulfill-its-karaoke-destiny

Ingeburg Liebermann Elsa Alexander Furtmann Siegrid Holstein Michael Vollmar

Video: Telepresence Robot Avatar TELESAR V

Picture 1Professor Tachi from Japan's Keio University has been working on telepresence robots since the 1980s, and TELESAR V, a so-called telexistence robot avatar, is the finest work of his lab yet. The robot makes it possible to transmit sight, hearing and even touch in order "to free people from time and space constraints". The way it works is that the robot becomes your alter ego (or "avatar") at a distant location: the human operator sees what the robot sees and hears what the robot hears. With model V, operators can Telesar can even "feel" the shape and temperature of objects, thanks to a set of sensors built into the hands.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/LBmBvI9Y9j0/

Lutz Yalcin Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter

Girls Gone Gadgets 01: Premiere [NSFW-L]

  • Our podcast feed: Audio | Video
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Georgia and Ashley Esqueda talk Android Xoom 2, geek dating dos and don'ts, how to rock (and not rock) your BlackBerry, advice for celebrity sexters, iHelicopters and Whale Trail for iPhone and iPad, and the next creepy step towards robot apocalypse. This is Girls Gone Gadgets! [NSFW-L]

read more


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/KjkgL2oykm8/story01.htm

Nicola Kohnen Laura Ungricht Edith Berner Lea Linden

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster

auslogics defrag
Auslogics Disk Defrag has been part of my system maintenance toolkit for quite some time. With the release of version 3.2, it's now even better at tidying up and optimizing your system's hard disk drives. In addition to a cleaner, easier-to-use interface, Disk Defrag 3.2 offers improved single file and folder defragging, better processing of multiple disks, a simplified scheduling screen, and more informative tool tips. Auslogics has also fine-tuned the program's defragmentation and file consolidation algorithms.

For laptop users, there's a new option to lock the program if your system is running on battery power -- so scheduled operations don't kick in and drain your power source at an inopportune moment. If you happen to have an SSD installed in your PC, you can head to the Disk Defrag options and exclude it from scanning (many think that defragmenting an SSD is a very bad idea).

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a free download and works with most versions of Windows.

Auslogics Disk Defrag 3.2 gets smarter, faster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/11/auslogics-disk-defrag-3-2-gets-smarter-faster/

Hans-Jürgen Haake Arno Zimmerling Jacqueline Kiesel Michel Rohr

How to Publish Your Own DVDs Now That Lulu Has Quit

Open publishing platform Lulu is known for making a global print-on-demand, disc manufacturing, and distribution and fulfillment network available to independent authors, filmmakers and other individuals. For several years, creators have been able to make everything from hard-cover and paperback books to photo calendars, CDs and DVDs available in both Web-based and brick-and-mortar outlets around the world.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/73687.html

Olga Kreibich Nathalie Donnerhacke Anna-Lena Baumgärtel Sabine Kinzler

Bugs: The iPhone 4S Keeps Setting Outgoing Calls on Mute [IPhone]

Judging from a 29-page thread brewing on the Apple support forums over the past few weeks, the iPhone 4S is suffering from a glitch where outbound calls have no audio coming from the earpiece. And the problem is affecting people on all three carriers. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/el0BN7Mp8zs/the-iphone-4s-doesnt-care-about-your-outbound-calls

Vivien Strupp Elena Lasch Hans-Jürgen Haake Arno Zimmerling

Ask DLS: What's your favorite mobile app at the moment?

askdls
The mobile app marketplace is exploding; there are now hundreds of thousands of apps on the iOS, Android and BlackBerry app markets. Heck, even Windows Phone 7 just crossed the 10,000 mark!

But alas, not all apps are created equal; some are way, way better than others. Which leads me to today's Ask DLS question: What is your favorite mobile app at the moment?

We don't necessarily mean the latest craze; we'd like to hear about apps that have stood the test of time on your device, apps that are among the first you install on a new smartphones, apps that have earned their place on your home screen and in your heart.

So, what are some of these apps? Bonus points for links to screenshots in the comments!

Ask DLS: What's your favorite mobile app at the moment? originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/17/ask-dls-whats-your-favorite-mobile-app-at-the-moment/

Sylvia Lösche Steven Walnsch Lennart Tonn Simone Temme