GPS Letterlogger to Solve the Problem of Missing Snail Mail [Mail Tracker]

from Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale

TrackingTheWorld has come up with a potential solution to the problem of letters that go missing in action. Letter Logger is a quarter-inch-thick device that fits into a standard number 10 business envelope and allows the US Postal Service to track its progress throughout the system alongside Google Earth. Here's how it works.

Letter Logger consists of a powerful microprocessor developed by Texas Instruments, and a low-power consumption uBlox ANTARIS 4 GPS module, and is powered by a slim 1100mAh battery. It can be deployed in two different ways. Users can choose to receive reports every two, five or ten minutes (which would, I think, drive you nuts) if Letter Logger is in Constant mode, or they can go for Tilt mode, which notifies you only when the envelope is tilted. Constant mode gives you 20 hours' battery life, while Tilt mode will keep tabs for two weeks.

The service starts up on January 2 next year and it won't be available to the general public. It's a shame the British Government's Customs and Revenue department didn't have access to this when the CD-Rs containing 25 million people's bank details got lost in transit earlier this month. [Tracking the World via Engadget]

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First Supersonic Private Jet Sold to Obviously-Very-Rich Guy [Supersonic Private Jet]

from Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz

This is the Aerion Supersonic Business Jet, the first private plane that will fly at 1.6 Mach. The first unit has just been purchased by Sheikh Rashid, the ruler of Dubai. This bird will be able to fly the Ellisons, Jobs and Gores of this world from Paris to New York in just over 4 hours, so even while it has a $80,000,000 price tag, there will be no demand problems for it. The aircraft specs are amazing:

Thanks to its design, the Aerion Supersonic Business Jet will be able to cruise at 1.15 Mach over land without producing any boom on the ground. The plane can also keep a 0.98 Mach speed offering a similar cost-per-mile than competing subsonic private jets and complying with US regulations. Over water, however, you will be free to speed it up and sustain 1.5 Mach with ease. To give you an idea, at this speed the Aerion can cross the Atlantic in two hours (it has a 4,600 miles range over 45,400 pounds of fuel) thanks to its Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engines.

Unlike the Concorde, which could only fly to certain airports through the world because of its operative requirements, this supersonic jet is designed to comply with environmental, sound and airport regulations everywhere. For example, the Aerion can land in just 3,460 feet, which makes it usable in most airports and a prime candidate to be Larry Ellison's next private plane.

Design-wise, the Aerion looks even better than the fastest turboprop private plane . At least, it looks stunning except for the color. But hey, for $80,000,000 I'm sure they will be able to deliver it in secret-plane black with alien markings.

The Aerion Supersonic Business Jet will be delivered in 2014, so you only need to decide if you want to spend $250,000 now for one of the forty "early delivery positions" or wait a couple more years to get it on a Black Friday, just like the rest of us. [Aerion]

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Lifefast Transparent 360º Ad Display is LED Craziness in a (Big) Can [Led Display]

from Gizmodo by Addy Dugdale

Technohouse showed off the Lifefast, a radical transparent, 360º LED display unit at the Inter BEE 2007 fair in Japan. Placed at right angles to each other in the Lifefast's cylindrical design are four bars, each fitted with 600 three-color LEDs, which revolve between 12 and 13 times per second, flashing up images. More info and pics below.

The unit, which supports VGA, DVI and video signals, can display three 600 x 800-dot images, two 600 x 1,200-dot images, or one 600 x 2,400-dot image, and the size varies between 75 cm and 150cm tall. The unit, which is manufactured by German firm Kinoton GMBH, costs from around $6,450. New Launches

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Lotus and Hot Wheels Create Badass Concept [Cars]

from Gizmodo by Mark Wilson

Lotus makes a sexy car on their own, but teaming up with die-cast maker Hot Wheels they've really outdone themselves. A 1:5 scale model created for SEMA, one of its most distinctive characteristics is the exposed center spine which incorporates switches and gear linkages while supporting that massive wing you see sticking out the back. Mostly men want nice cars to attract women and get them sex. This car is so hot it can skip the finding a woman part. Hit the jump for a mega sized pic. [jalopnik and motorauthority]

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Verizon Says You Can Port From Sprint, Build Your Own Phone [Verizon Opens Wide]

from Gizmodo by Wilson Rothman

We just got the juicy details on the Verizon Wireless Any App, Any Device initiative going live in the second half of next year. The big answers, from the company heads:
• Yes, you will be able to port existing CDMA phones from Sprint—or Korea—to Verizon, provided they operate on the correct frequencies.
• The cost of certification for BYO phones will be "very reasonable", and that even an at-home tinkerer could feasibly submit a device for approval.
• Previously Verizon only tested phones that could sell in the hundreds of thousands of units; now it will be happy to approve devices that require much lower volume.
• This is for CDMA products only. The iPhone ain't gonna port, even though several reporters seemed to not understand why. Here are more details:

• There will be no problem with Java-powered CDMA phones running on VZW, even though the carrier is so partial to BREW.
• The testing process will involve than basic network interactivity and a simple security screen so that devices that could upload malware to the network won't get through.

CTO Dick Lynch on homemade devices:

If somebody has the technical capability of building a device on a breadboard and they want to bring it to be tested, the philosophy of this program says "Have at it!" If it is tested and passes, it can get on the network. Does it make it hard to be the small guy on the block? Not now, with availability of components, etc. The provider of the device would have some fee that they would pay. I think it's going to be surprisingly reasonable - it's not gonna have many many zeroes on the back. They will be very reasonable fees for professional services rendered.

CEO Lowell McAdam on what might turn up:

This isn't just phones—itcould be a very small module in a gaming station, a home appliance, something that goes into your car. It doesn't have to have the traditional distribution or volumes. [Traditionally] if a device is not going to sell hundreds of thousands, it's hard to decide because of our scale. But now, if something only sells five, now it can be on our network.

McAdam on porting from other carriers:

If somebody wants to bring a device over from any other CDMA carrier or somewhere else, if it passes the test and operates on our frequencies, they can. [Can someone move from Sprint to Verizon?] The short answer is "Yes."

Of course, this is all about device availability, not about the services and fees for service. The honchos admit that there will have to be new plans and open discussion of bandwidth caps.

Depending on the type of device, different usage models will apply. If there's a device that only access network once a month to update, the idea of a utility meter reading comes to mind. If it's doing video download, something else makes sense.

The topic of Google's Open Handset Alliance came up, but the response was fairly boilerplate, and indicated that Verizon was more likely to test popular Android models on its standard service offering, a la Treos, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile devices. Verizon reminded reporters constantly that BYO was, after all, just augmentation of its standard business model, not a total change. I for one am happy about it, but this is too early to know what will come about. [Press Release]

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