European Nissan Leaf gets always-on connection, lets you turn up the AC wirelessly

We've already marveled at the Chevy Volt's ability to let you turn up the AC while it's still plugged in to the A/C, courtesy of its OnStar app. Now we can confirm the European model of Nissan's Leaf is getting the same sort of functionality, and it's said to be standard -- no monthly fees like you'll be stuck with on the Volt. We're still not sure who's providing the wireless connectivity in the US, but abroad it comes courtesy of Telenor Connexion, which will enable a mobile phone or PC to access the Carwings Data Center remotely, to check charging status and modify the car's climate controls. In an EV the car's heating and cooling can be two of the biggest sinks for the onboard battery packs, so this ability to get the car up or down to temp while it's still plugged in could help you spend more kW driving and less on acclimatizing.

Continue reading European Nissan Leaf gets always-on connection, lets you turn up the AC wirelessly

European Nissan Leaf gets always-on connection, lets you turn up the AC wirelessly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What This Interactive Tron Skating Ramp Needs is Some Olivia Wilde [Video]

For Australia's Tron: Legacy premiere, skaters slid around Eness' interactive ramp; iPod Touches loaded with custom apps that measured air time to control the graphics. Tony Hawk, this isn't. In fact, it's rather like Wipe Out, isn't it? [LiveForFilms] More »

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Slap on This iPod nano Wrist Band

OK, so the market is aflood with products designed to turn the adorable little 6th-gen iPod nano into a wristwatch.� What’s different about this one?� Well, remember that whole “slap” bracelet craze?� The Slap from Griffin Technology lets you, well, SLAP your nano onto your wrist.� It has a flexible, spring-steel band encased in soft [...]

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Daily Crunch: Steve Sighting Edition

Make Your Own Steve Jobs Christmas Ornament Latest Jeopardy Contestant: A Robot Named Watson Review: Nikon Coolpix P7000 Anticitizen One: PatriotApp Turns iOS Users Into Walking, Talking Eyes & Ears Of Various Government Agencies 10 Tasteful Gifts For The Aspiring Chef

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Fat-Bottomed Girls Will Be Riding the Yike Bike Today, as It's Just Gone On Sale, Oh Yeah [Bikes]

This doesn't look like a real bike. You know that, I know that, but seemingly the Yike Bike people don't, as it's just gone on sale for $3,600. More »

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Microsoft releases details of the upcoming Silverlight 5

Speaking at the Silverlight Firestarter conference yesterday, Scott Guthrie, the vice president of Microsoft's Developer Division, reassured the masses of Silverlight's future by detailing the exciting new features in Silverlight in 2011.

On the application-development front, there's a ton of exciting new features. Font rendering has been improved (which is no surprise, given Silverlight's new home on the Windows Phone 7), lower-latency networking has been added, immediate mode graphics are now possible (cue some very sexy games and visualizations), and also some improved sandboxing features have been thrown in. Scott mentions better integration with IE9's hardware acceleration, too, but no real details are given.

Top of the bill, media-wise, is GPU-accelerated video decoding (I thought Silverlight 4 already did that?). There's a cool new feature called Trickplay that lets you alter the playback speed of Silverlight videos -- with pitch correction! (I've wanted this feature for so long -- why has Silverlight beaten you to it, Flash?) Finally, there's improved "power awareness," which will stop the screensaver kicking in while a Silverlight video is playing.

Exciting stuff, but we'll have to wait until "the first half of 2011" for the first beta!

Microsoft releases details of the upcoming Silverlight 5 originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogue antivirus apps now masquerading as utility software, too

Once upon a time, rogue antivirus apps were pretty much one-trick ponies. They tried to closely mimic the interfaces we recognize from apps like AVG and Microsoft Security Essentials and use goofily-combined names like Super Windows Antivirus 2010 Gold Pro. However, as Sunbelt reports on their official blog, malware authors are now branching out into other types of bogus apps in order to lure more users into their trap.

To the trained eye, everything about PCoptimizer 2010 looks suspicious -- from the Intel Inside decal to the "Register Errors" text. The unwary Windows user, however, could be tricked just as easily by this trainwreck of a rogue app as her or she could be by a convincing antivirus clone.

Your best defense, of course, is to arm yourself with knowledge and look before you leap. Real, quality utility programs tend not to use flashy pop-up advertisements, make sensational sounding claims about fixing thousands of errors in your registry, and they usually use the correct terms. Register errors? I think you mean registry errors, Captain Scammy.

If you really need a few apps to keep your Windows system running in tip-top shape, check out this collection of six handy tools and our more recent rundown of 15+ trustworthy programs.

Rogue antivirus apps now masquerading as utility software, too originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ubuntu One app for iOS now supports AirPlay streaming

The interface may still be a bit spartan, but the Ubuntu One app for iOS has added an important new feature in its latest update. If you're running iOS 4.2 you can now take advantage of AirPlay to pump tunes to compatible devices like an Apple TV box. At last you can blast your cloud-synced tunes out of the home theater system as you wander around the house, controlling playback from your pocketable touchscreen!

Canonical reminds users that the Ubuntu One app will stream all your music -- not just tracks purchased through their store. While the app is free, a $3.99 per month mobile subscription is required to use the app.

Ubuntu One for iOS [iTunes Link]

Ubuntu One app for iOS now supports AirPlay streaming originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Hub update helps save us from our Windows Phone 7 phones

Remember the Windows Phone 7 ads, the ones that promised to "save us from our phones" by giving us more "glance and go" information? For the most part, these phones haven't delivered on that promise due to the relative dearth of apps taking advantage of Microsoft's live tile concept. That changes a bit today thanks to an update to the HTC Hub app that ships with every Windows Phone 7 device manufactured by HTC. Now, instead of a generic double-wide icon, the HTC Hub presents you with the current weather condition and temperature and the forecasted highs and lows. As such, you'll never have to click through and be subjected to HTC's overwrought animations that feel so out of place on Microsoft's more demure user interface. More please.

HTC Hub update helps save us from our Windows Phone 7 phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robot Runs on Human-Like Legs

Ryuma Niiyama has built a robot that runs ? and falls ? like a human. Unlike more traditional walking robots, which change the angle of their joints to shuffle forward, always stable, Niiyama’s ‘bot uses artificial muscles and dynamic balance to power along.
The bot, named Athlete (Niiyama seems to have put most of his effort [...]

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Kinstant Makes Kindle Browser Useful, at Last

One thing the otherwise excellent Kindle is not is a great web-browser. Even with a hardware keyboard to type urls, the process of visiting even one site is painful. If you’re like most people, you’ll try once or twice and then give up, forever.
Which is a shame, as the little e-reader has a free, life-long [...]

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Roku drops new firmware in time for the holidays, XR gets 1080p, Hulu optimization for all

If you're an owner of one of the early Roku XR units and have been left on the 720p bench while the newer models step up to full HD, it's time to get in the game. Roku has released a firmware update (2.9-b1509) that unleashes the necessary pixels on the XR, also including some niceties for those models that can already do 1080p. The full list is at the source link, but look for improved performance for viewing Hulu along with a suite of bug fixes. Leave your box running and it'll update itself, or if you want it now you can grab it manually under "Settings," "Player Info," "Check for Updates." Yeah, you know you want to.

Roku drops new firmware in time for the holidays, XR gets 1080p, Hulu optimization for all originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CoasiHome Bio "Helios" Fireplace Has a Shelf Fit for Fahrenheit 451 [Bookshelves]

What better way to display your dry, incredibly flammable collection of first editions than on a trendy bookshelf that also happens to be fireplace? More »

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Kinect meets its maker with new air guitar hack (video)

Let's face it, the daddy of all motion-controlled gaming is the humble art of air guitar. There's no question about it, creationists and evolutionists all agree, the genesis of our modern craze for motion sensitivity was your uncle rocking out to Jimmy Page's face-melting solo in Stairway to Heaven. Now that we've got the history lesson out of the way, someone's gone and programmed Kinect to recognize the fine craft of your air strumming and deliver concordant chords in response. Excellent!

Continue reading Kinect meets its maker with new air guitar hack (video)

Kinect meets its maker with new air guitar hack (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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