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Paul Miller

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Engadget's Wild Ride in the P.U.M.A.

by Paul Miller on April 8, 2009 at 11:01 AM


Against all odds, GM and Segway let us inside their precious P.U.M.A. prototype, and we went for a quick jaunt down 18th St. We couldn't drive it, unfortunately, but there was plenty of action to be had from the passenger side. Starting from a rest on four wheels -- the main powered wheels and the front two "safety" wheels; we never touched the back two to the ground -- the contraption shoves itself up onto two wheels quite gracefully, with the passenger compartment moving slightly independently from the wheelbase and floor. It was a bit odd, but not at all unpleasant, and we were soon zipping down the road. Since the P.U.M.A. is self-balancing, we felt way less force when accelerating and decelerating than we would in a car, since our body was being "leaned" into it instead of pulled along. Turning on a dime is quite fun as well, and we could see this thing making itself quite at home on city streets. While it remains to be seen if GM and Segway can commercialize this in time, and for the right price, we're fairly enamored -- at least it's something different, and it's already twice as interesting as Segway ever managed to be.

Camera work and moral support courtesy of Autoblog Green's Sebastian Blanco.
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'Rock Band' Ticks Off 40 Million Tracks Sold, $1 Billion in Revenue

by Paul Miller on March 28, 2009 at 02:31 PM


That's a lot of dollars. Also? A lot of Mötley Crüe. Seriously, people, calm down. As of right now 'Rock Band' has 614 songs on offer, 269 different artists, 11 full albums, more revenue than any other game in 2008, $1 billion total in North American retail sales, 40 million tracks sold, and unhindered wallet access to countless deluded human beings who think they're rock stars.
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iPhone 3G Finally Available Contract-Free

by Paul Miller on March 27, 2009 at 01:31 PM

At long last folks with a contract phobia or just a general penchant for lawlessness can pay exorbitant amounts of money to get an iPhone 3G contract-free. As promised, 8GB models for $599 and 16GB ones for $699 are now available from AT&T and Apple stores, with AT&T requiring buyers to be existing AT&T customers, limited at one per, while Apple stores will sell the handsets to anyone wandering in off the street -- rebellious demeanor preferred.

[Via Boy Genius Report]
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Netflix Headed for the Wii?

by Paul Miller on March 23, 2009 at 09:40 AM


There's a new survey from Netflix making the rounds, asking customers if they'd like to watch Netflix on the Wii. The service would apparently require a $9.99 "Netflix Instant Streaming Disc," which users could pop into the system when they wanted to watch -- far be it from Nintendo to offer a firmware update. While many of the folks we know are already getting Netflix on their Xboxen, the Wii would obviously let Netflix hit a lot more households with those Instant Watch goodies, if this ever comes to pass. As for Sony, it's still denying any plans for Netflix on the PS3, but perhaps this would help change its mind (and won't involve another $10 DVD -- we only have so many Hamiltons to go around).
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Acer's Predator PCs Recalled Over Fire Concerns

by Paul Miller on March 20, 2009 at 05:24 PM


Those aesthetics aren't the only "dangerous" aspect to Acer's Predator gaming desktops. Apparently the insulation on some of the computer's internal wiring can become stripped, and has proceeded to short-circuit and melt internal components and the external casing in two separate reported incidents. Acer is recalling the ASG7200 and ASG7700 machines sold between May and December of last year, and customers can contact Acer for a free repair. Number of boxes affected? About 215. Not exactly raining fire in the streets, but we suppose those 213 remaining folks would like to know their Very Important Session of 'The Witcher' is about to be interrupted.
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Fujitsu Shows Off FLEPia, the First Color e-book

by Paul Miller on March 18, 2009 at 10:37 AM


After years of teasing -- FLEPia was first announced in April of 2007, and first proven in 2006 -- Fujitsu has at last released its color e-book (or e-paper mobile terminal, as they'd like you to call it) to the masses. Featuring an 8-inch XGA screen capable of displaying 260,000 colors, along with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and up to 4GB of storage via SD card, and measuring less than half an inch thick, FLEPia's not just getting by on color alone. Fujitsu promises 40 hours of continuos use, and the unit can be operated by its touchscreen or the assortment of function buttons. Naturally you can do the regular e-book thing, but the Japanese version of the device also includes full-on Windows CE 5.0, which would probably be a bit of a chore to use with the relatively slow screen refresh times of e-ink (1.8 seconds for a single wipe), but undeniably retrofuturistic. FLEPia ships on April 20th in Japan for 99,750 Yen (about $1,010 US).

[Via Engadget Japanese]

Read - English press release
Read - Videos of FLEPia in action
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Brush & Rinse Magical Toothbrush Coming Soon for $1.18

by Paul Miller on March 12, 2009 at 09:27 AM


It's a insanely simple idea, but Amron Experimental really captured a lot of hearts, minds and minty-fresh mouths with its Brush & Rinse toothbrush concept. Sporting the same boring bristles and molded plastic of every other toothbrush produced this century, the Brush & Rinse has a slightly indented back, which lets you redirect water and... well, brush and rinse. Unfortunately, the last time the thing was in the news, it was a prototype selling for $1,750, so we're happy to see it down to the much more reasonable pre-order price of $1.18 a pop -- though they need to presell 50,000 units before they can go into production. Regular people will be able to pick one up for $5 once they get that minimum out of the way. Exciting action video is after the break.
[Via Gadget Lab]

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Man Files $1M Lawsuit Against US Airways for Lost Xbox

by Paul Miller on March 11, 2009 at 03:01 PM


A Yale student is suing US Airways for $1 million in compensation for his lost Xbox 360 and the emotional toll of attempting to recover it. He claims he had an Xbox 360 with a "specialized hard drive" and other fancy components worth more than $1,000 (is that the kind with the really, really loud drive noise?) in his checked luggage, and when he went to pick up his luggage it was considerably lighter than before, with the Xbox 360 and components found as the only thing missing.

Sounds like no-fun-at-all, and the "run-around" he got with speaking to five different airline employees sounds equally painful, but we're not sure how that all adds up to $1,000,000 -- the maximum allowable by law in his state. US Airways says that not only does the federal limit of liability for lost luggage top out at $3,300, but that electronics checked in luggage are specifically excluded from liability. How kind. [Via Joystiq]
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Melinda Gates Secretly Pines for an iPhone

by Paul Miller on March 3, 2009 at 09:24 AM


In a recent Vogue interview, Melinda Gates confided that she's battled some iPhone envy in her day: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone'." It's just too bad for her that Apple is forbidden fruit in the Gates household. "There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household. But iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids," said Melinda. Stay strong, Mrs. Gates, we're hearing good things about Windows Mobile 7. Oh, and we made up that part about Africa.

iPhone or BlackBerry?
iPhone1423 (45.3%)
BlackBerry1215 (38.7%)
I'm not sure502 (16.0%)

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The BlackBerry Storm Ad That Might Have Been

by Paul Miller on February 27, 2009 at 11:46 AM


This, shall we say, confrontational BlackBerry Storm ad by NY ad agency Guava has been making the rounds today, depicting a blackberry "bullet" taking a violent path through a familiar-seeming piece of fruit. An anonymous source told us that RIM considered it but eventually got cold feet -- and we can understand why. Nonetheless, it's an awesome bit of smack, so hit up the break and check it out for yourself.

iPod or BlackBerry?
iPod786 (36.2%)
BlackBerry1098 (50.6%)
I'm not sure.288 (13.3%)


[Thanks, Michael]

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Jeff Bezos Chats Up the Kindle 2 with Jon Stewart

by Paul Miller on February 25, 2009 at 10:27 AM

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos showed up at Jon Stewart's pad the other day to discuss the Kindle 2, and Jon seemed fairly unimpressed. They were just finally getting into a groove when Bezos dropped the price bomb, and then their fleeting segment was over. It's embedded after the break. Amazon VP Ian Freed has also been chatting up the device, but in a more technical nature. On designing the Kindle he ... Read more »
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Second Google Phone, the HTC Magic, Debuts

by Paul Miller on February 17, 2009 at 10:12 AM

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/HTC_s_Android_powered_Magic_AKA_the_G2_is_official'; Vodafone just scooped planet Earth with the first touchscreen-only Android phone: HTC's Magic. All the specs look to line up with what was rumored, with a 3.2-inch QVGA screen front and center (that resolution might be a typo, HVGA seems more likely), HDSPA, GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera (no flash), and a ... Read more »
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Palm Ending Development of PalmOS

by Paul Miller on February 12, 2009 at 12:50 PM

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/Palm_OS_Officially_Dead_Long_Live_Pre'; In a talk with investors Palm CEO Ed Colligan dropped a whole ton of previously undisclosed facts about Palm and the Pre. First off, he mentioned that other than the Centro making its way to other carriers, there will be no more PalmOS devices from Palm; they're concentrating completely on webOS and Windows Mobile. They ... Read more »
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More Specifis on India's $20 Laptop, the Sakshat

by Paul Miller on February 3, 2009 at 03:33 PM

As expected, India's government unveiled the jointly-developed "$10 laptop" today, now priced at $20. Unfortunately dubbed Sakshat, which ironically translates as "before your eyes," the laptop is slated to ship in six months, with specs in line with what we've heard already: 2GB of storage, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and 2 watts of power consumption. In fact, there really isn't much "unveiling" going on ... Read more »
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Sony Unveils New Touchscreen Walkman With OLED Screen

by Paul Miller on January 7, 2009 at 04:49 AM

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/hardware/Sony_Walkman_with_3_OLED_Display'; Just as rumored, Sony's indeed showing up at this year's CES with a touchscreen Walkman, the NWZ-X1000. Front and center is a beautiful 3-inch touchscreen OLED display, which means lower power consumption and a wider color gamut than a traditional LCD, and Sony also worked in Wi-Fi and headphone-independent noise ... Read more »
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