Apple Tablet Probability Meter: 90% Chance, 4 Months Away [Apple Tablet]

After last Sunday's rumor on the Apple Tablet's September announcement, and yesterday's evidence of two new Apple products in the iPhone OS 3.1 USB devices list, we have decided to elevate the level inour Apple Tablet Probability Meter to 90%.

The launch date remains the same: September launch, November release. Or so we hope. Like always, remember this is just our bet based on the evidence and rumors at hand.

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Fraunhofer Institute's fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a small device that can be used to check the freshness of fruit, telling the interested parties whether it's ripe or not. Based on previous technologies which measure, for example car emissions, the device measures the volatile gases emitted by the fruit and analyzes its makeup to determine the state of freshness. The team already has a working prototype, and sees the device, which would cost somewhere in the thousands of dollars range, as having widespread application for businesses that supply food to grocery stores. So far the device has only successfully been used to test the freshness of fruit, but researchers see possible future applications in testing meat as well.

Filed under: Science

Fraunhofer Institute's fruit checker device tracks optimum ripeness so you can stop sniffing those melons originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Orbiting fuel stations proposed for trips to the Moon, Mars, and beyond

A US government panel, summoned by el presidente to review the future of human space travel, has expressed strong support for introducing fuel depots into Earth's orbit. Refueling between stops is expected to cut down significantly on the weight of spacecraft and, accordingly, eliminate the need to engineer ever more powerful rockets to launch missions. It would then be up to private companies to compete -- and NASA already knows a thing or two about privatizing space missions -- by reducing costs and developing more efficient methods. While by no means the only potion NASA has bubbling, if the panel concludes in favor of orbiting gas stations, they will form the backbone of all future extraterrestrial exploration. So we're just letting you know in advance -- we're nice like that.

Filed under: Science

Orbiting fuel stations proposed for trips to the Moon, Mars, and beyond originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS' 11.6-inch 1101HA netbook finally on sale in America

Call it coincidence or call it fate, but just as soon as we saw Samsung's 11.6-inch N510 netbook go on sale across the pond, ASUS' long-awaited 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA has netted itself a date with UPS here on US soil. The machine is the first in the Seashell range to boast a display larger than 11 inches, though the atypical WXGA (1,366 x 768) panel is about the only thing that'll turn heads. Within, you'll find an exceedingly bland array of parts: an Atom Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, GMA 500 integrated graphics, a 160GB hard drive (still with us?), three USB 2.0 sockets, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth and audio in / out jacks. If you aren't down with waiting to see what kind of netbook revolution coincides with the launch of Windows 7, you can order yours up from the links below for $429.99.

[Via Netbooked]

Read - BuyDig.com order page
Read - NewEgg.com order page

Filed under: Laptops

ASUS' 11.6-inch 1101HA netbook finally on sale in America originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study says LEDs are about as efficient as compact fluorescents, all things considered

As we've seen with the slight resurgence of new and improved incandescent light bulbs, the amount of energy used to actually light up the bulb isn't necessarily the whole measure of energy efficiency. There's also the small matter of producing the bulb, shipping it around the world, and eventually disposing of it. With that in mind, the Siemens Corporate Technology Centre for Eco Innovations conducted a study that compared regular compact fluorescents to LED lamps -- using one 25,000-hour LED lamp as a constant, compared to 2.5 10,000-hour compact fluorescents (and 25 1,000-hour incandescents). While it's still holding back on some of the finer details, the group did apparently find that LEDs are no more or no less energy efficient than compact flourescents when the entire lifecycle of the bulb is taken into account, although it is quick to point out that LEDs should eventually win out as they become more efficient to produce.

Filed under: Household

Study says LEDs are about as efficient as compact fluorescents, all things considered originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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