Filed under: Transportation

Man, Tesla’s been busy today — in addition to the announcement of the Model S and Elon Musk’s promise of a sub-$30K electric car in four years, word on the street is that the company’s inked a deal with Daimler AG to supply it with lithium-ion batteries for upcoming electric cars. Daimler’s CEO has said the company was open to leasing battery tech to get out an electric Smart by 2010 and it’s rumored that the German marque is looking to ditch gas entirely by 2015, so going to Tesla, which has been working on battery tech for some moment, isn’t a totally out there proposition. Just a rumor for now — given Tesla’s generally-prickly relationships with others, we’d wait for an official announcement before getting too excited about a Roadster-powered SLR, but it’s certainly intriguing.

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Digital Cameras

We’ve been teased with the inevitable launch of the Nikon D700 DSLR, but it looks like our introduction is pretty much here with the nascent of a product presentation video that’s supposed to hit the internets tomorrow. Observe as the nice man rubs the camera and says naughty things in French (hopefully we’ll have a translation soon). He goes on to show off the new interface, quick menus, battery port, pop-up flash, and even gets a nice shot through the new viewfinder. In all seriousness, that is looking like a slick new camera. You’re still looking at around €2,600 ($4,000), a July release, a 12-megapixel sensor, and sensor cleaning system. More data is certain to surface tomorrow when our friends across the pond wake up. Hit the continue link to be taunted a second day.

[Thanks, Pete]

Continue reading Nikon D700 presentation video revealed early, it’s very nice

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Original post by Joshua Fruhlinger

Filed under: Displays, Gaming

It’s never clear how a company plans on implementing a given patent, but Sony’s patent application for a haptic touchscreen composed of “tactile pixels” lists former Sony Computer Entertainment chief Phil Harrison as the inventor and makes several references to potential use in “a game device” and to “game events,” so it’s a safe bet that it was at least developed with the PSP in mind. The patent app describes a sophisticated haptic feedback system that goes well beyond the basic rumble of today’s device — the pixels themselves are able to move up and down within two positions, providing direct feedback to user actions. That’s certainly an interesting view, but like all patent news, we’re not going to hold out hope for it to surface in a consumer device anytime soon — but we’re willing to be surprised, you know?

[Via PSP Fanboy]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

About that duration last year we were all so excited about the release of the original iPhone. We waited in line, we saved for months, and to back all of that, we bought Apple Care to protect our new baby.

For all of your that bought Apple care on your iPhone you know that the expiration term is creeping up on you. Of course, Apple will allow you to extend your current Apple Care for just $69.95 or, whether your like me, just buy the iPhone 3G and get its Apple Care for $129.95.

If the iPhone is anything like most cars I’ve owned, everything will go wrong the very day after the warranty expires. I’m just saying.

Original post by Bree Pearson

Filed under: Laptops

The continuous barrage of Eee-branded gear from ASUS continues on today, with the first appearance of the Eee PC 903, 904 (above), and 905. It’s not clear precisely what the differences amidst the three models are, but as we’ve heard, they’re all basically the Eee PC 901’s Atom-based guts shoved into the Eee PC 1000’s case — which means you’re getting a larger keyboard, but the 8.9-inch display will have a pretty significant bezel around it. As before, final specs and pricing aren’t available, but since these are destined to replace the 900 and 901, we’d expect pricing to remain in the $600 range.

[Thanks, Sascha]

Read - Eee 903
Read - Eee 904 and 905

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

Only recently we told you about a table that monitors who is dominating a conversation and deemed it potentially disruptive. that duration, however, we’re looking at the “Kage roi” which looks to add to the coming together of wits and intelligences. Using voice recognition, Kage roi grabs keyboards and performs World Wide Web searches, displaying the results for each to see. To add it it all, the table even uses colored LEDs to set the mood. For instance, whether you work with a group of AM humans, set it to sunrise. whether you’re trying to get them to scramble before the end of the day, give them a sunset and let the desperate brainstorming start. Developed by IT firm Kayac with some brains on Keio University, Kage roi won’t be in a board room near you any moment soon.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

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Original post by Joshua Fruhlinger

Filed under: Networking

Although Linux-based Tomato and DD-WRT firmwares work with a plethora of routers, Netgear is getting savvy with its marketing by actually aiming its WGR614L at tweakers who just melt upon hearing either term. The so-called open source Wireless-G router features a 240MHz MIPS32 CPU, 4MB of flash memory, 16MB of RAM, an external 2 dBi antenna and a second internal diversity antenna to enhance range. Additionally, the unit will “soon” support OpenWRT, and there’s plus four 10/100 Ethernet ports in case you’re looking for a bit of wired action as well. Potentially best of all, the WGR614L is available as we speak for a very manageable $69.

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Original post by Darren Murph