iRiver Story HD review

When it was unveiled back in January, the Story HD, iRiver's first entry into the US e-reader market, boasted all manner of exciting technologies, including an "HD" display and a souped-up (in e-reader terms) processor. Things have changed in the past six months, thanks in part to new Nook and Kobo devices. The other week, however, iRiver pulled out a pre-release surprise that turned plenty of heads: a partnership with Google Books. Are these features enough to make the company competitive in an already crowded market dominated by the Kindle? Find out the answer to all that and more in the review below.

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iRiver Story HD review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/19/iriver-story-hd-review/

Laura Ungricht Edith Berner Lea Linden Kevin Fickenscher

Suzuki unveils Every electric van, bead curtains sold separately

Just when you thought the electric van couldn't get any more stylish, Suzuki went out and raised the bar even higher, with its Every van -- a prototype plug-in that has state felony written all over it. Following in the wake of Mitsubishi's Minicab i-MiEV, this love bus is powered by a lithium-ion battery that can be fully juiced in about five hours, with a cruising range of up to 62 miles. It's also a good 400 pounds heavier than its gas-powered predecessor, though, as Integrity Exports explains, its cargo capacity remains fixed at around 550 pounds. For now, Suzuki is sending out just 13 vehicles to a handful of Japanese dealerships, in the hopes of testing the market before a potential widespread launch. No word yet on when that could happen, but Japan's soccer moms and airport shuttle drivers must be licking their chops.

Suzuki unveils Every electric van, bead curtains sold separately originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Integrity Exports, Autoblog Green  |  sourceChunichi (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/suzuki-unveils-every-electric-van-bead-curtains-sold-separately/

Monika Kley Heidemarie Frick Maike Beetz Fiona Henschel

University of Birmingham researchers develop antibacterial stainless steel, mysophobes clap from within their bubbles

Answering the call of germphobes and their Stepford ladies-in-waiting everywhere, researchers at the University of Birmingham have devised a silver-infused technique of warding off unwanted bacteria. Eschewing the previously attempted, but short-lived coating method, these scientists have "developed a novel surface alloying technology" that infuses silver, nitrogen and carbon into a newly germ-resistant stainless steel surface. The team hopes this super durable steel will soon find its anti-bacterial way into hospitals and the surgical implements they employ -- not to mention your college cafeteria. Modern Lady Macbeth homemaker types can breathe a sigh of "Out, damn'd superbug spot" relief and get back to sealing up the furniture.

Continue reading University of Birmingham researchers develop antibacterial stainless steel, mysophobes clap from within their bubbles

University of Birmingham researchers develop antibacterial stainless steel, mysophobes clap from within their bubbles originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/19/university-of-birmingham-researchers-develop-antibacterial-stain/

Joshua Heinlein Markus Wigger Alexander Berner Oliver Büdenbender

Smart Cover for Samsung Galaxy Tab Looks Rather Familiar

In its legal dealings against alleged plagiarism of its designs, Apple calls Samsung “the copyist.” It is rather ironic, then, that even Samsung’s accessory suppliers seem to be ripping of Apple’s designs. Exhibit a: The Galaxy Tab 10.1 Smart Case by Anymode. Once we get past the fitting of the case, which use a full, wraparound [...]

Source: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/07/smart-cover-for-samsung-galaxy-tab-looks-rather-familiar/

Svenja Hoferichter Carola Auer Luca Liebe Finja Kerkhoff

Verizon's Galaxy Tab 10.1 may pack Micro SIMs, force Charge owners to break out the scissors

Galaxy Tab 10.1 Micro SIM
There were some mumblings that T-Mobile's OG Galaxy Tab would come packing a Micro SIM, but that rumor never came to pass. Now a similar tale is being spun about Verizon's LTE-sporting Galaxy Tab 10.1. Android Central got its green, fingerless arms on a purported image of Big Red training docs that reveals the Honeycomb slate will not use the standard-sized 4G SIMs found in the Thunderbolt, Droid Charge, Revolution -- instead, it will come stuffed with a tiny 3FF card. The company has already made it abundantly clear that there will be no LTE roaming with its devices, perhaps now it's trying to discourage users from swapping a single SIM between a phone and tablet to save cash. Or, maybe Samsung chose the format due to space constraints. Guess we'll just have to wait and see -- which hopefully won't be much longer.

Verizon's Galaxy Tab 10.1 may pack Micro SIMs, force Charge owners to break out the scissors originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/verizons-galaxy-tab-10-1-may-pack-micro-sims-force-charge-owne/

Edgar Betz Antonia Koppe Gertrud Hölzl Ulrike Kellner

FBI Raids New York Anon Hacker Suspects [Blip]

You can only go with the whole fuck the police ethos before they flip that creed around—federal agents landed at three New Yorkers' doorsteps this morning, seizing computers and peripherals. I'd expect much more of this. [Fox 2] More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8yshb73t3io/fbi-raids-new-york-anon-hacker-suspects

Heidemarie Frick Maike Beetz Fiona Henschel Joshua Heinlein

Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it

Lego Folding Farm
Sure, this Lego monstrosity isn't as cute or agile as some other plastic brick creations we've seen, but can those works of snap-together art cure cancer? OK, this folding farm might not actually put an end to tumors, but it can churn out 135,000 points of crunching power per-day in IBMs World Community Grid. Inside are actually three separate PCs powered by a trio of Core i7 2600ks and a single, massive 1,200-watt power supply. But who cares about that -- just look at all those bricks! About 2,000 of them, along with a few aluminum bars, make up this DIY case. And, thanks to the over-sized supply and modular design, creator Mike Schropp can easily stack another system or two on top, should it tickle his fancy. We'll leave you with some advice from Mr. Schropp -- should you ever be working on a project and unable to find exactly what you're looking for, just stop and ask yourself, "can I use Legos?"

Lego folding farm fights cancer, looks good doing it originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/07/18/lego-folding-farm-fights-cancer-looks-good-doing-it/

Kevin Fickenscher Amelie Schweizer Elfriede Oltmanns Janine Hillenbrand

Letting Your Kid Play In a McDonald's PlayPlace Means They're Probably Covered In Poop [Video]

Remember the joy you felt climbing through the tunnels at your McDonald's PlayPlace? Yeah, me too. And I don't particularly remember getting sick. But according to Erin Carr-Jordan's independent findings, we were all playing wrist-deep in pretty gnarly bacteria. Fun! More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/IGkEhbOWanM/letting-your-kid-play-in-a-mcdonalds-playplace-means-theyre-probably-covered-in-poop

Nicola Kohnen Laura Ungricht Edith Berner Lea Linden

BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 screenshots leak

bbm 6
A leaked early version of RIM's upcoming BlackBerry Messenger 6 has been making the rounds since late February, but images of the new app are just now beginning to appear. Over at CrackBerry, the crew has shared a handful of images of BBM 6 in action. Unfortunately, you won't get a glimpse at a chat or file transfer -- only the profile screens (after the break) and what you see above. All that's really revealed so far is the option to set custom contact and chat colors and BlackBerry OS 6.1-style icons.

CrackBerry also warns against installing the leaked BBM 6 app. There's no guarantee this app hasn't been tampered with, and BlackBerry devices are becoming a more common target for cybercriminals.

Continue reading BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 screenshots leak

BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 screenshots leak originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/06/blackberry-messenger-6-0-screenshots-leak/

Birte Höß Kerstin Klos Dieter Schreiter Monika Kley