Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric airplanes, CO2-storing bricks and solar-powered bags

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/14/inhabitats-week-in-green-electric-airplanes-co2-storing-brick/

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

This week green architecture boldly went where no buildings have gone before as Inhabitat reported on Jordan's plans for a $1.5 billion Star Trek theme park that will be powered by alternative energy. We also showcased plans for a spiraling self-sufficient skyscraper that generates its own water, food, and power, and we took a first look at a shimmering office complex in India crowned with a digital eye. Meanwhile, GE launched a shining solar-powered carousel in Manhattan and a team of researchers developed a new breed of CO2-storing bricks that are 2.5 times stronger than concrete.

In other news, high-flying green vehicles charted the horizon as Pipistrel introduced the world's most powerful electric airplane and an incredible human-powered helicopter broke a world record. We also saw Ohio State unveil plans for the 400 MPH Buckeye Bullet 3 and we showcased designs for a stunning concept car with a segmented transforming skin. Autonomous vehicles were a hot topic as well -- London's Heathrow airport rolled out a set of electric personal transportation pods, and China's Hongqui unveiled a driverless car to compete with Google's vehicle (which crashed this week).

It was also a big week for wearable technology as researchers developed new breed of stick-on tattoos that can track body functions and we took a look at a sonic fabric bag made from recycled audio tapes. Finally, we got set for the start of the academic year by bringing you six of the best solar-powered bags, an innovative new breed of e-paper that doesn't require electricity, and we launched a blowout back to school contest where you could win $1155 in green school supplies -- including a photovoltaic backpack and a HP Pavilion laptop.

Inhabitat's Week in Green: electric airplanes, CO2-storing bricks and solar-powered bags originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 14 Aug 2011 21:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile: overages on 200MB data plan in, throttling out

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/t-mobile-overages-on-200mb-data-plan-in-throttling-out/

Bad news T-Mobile fans: AllThingsD just confirmed that throttling on the 200MB plan is going the way of the dodo, with the carrier opting to charge overage fees instead. Under the new entry-level plan, those exceeding their monthly allotment will face a $0.10 overage per megabyte, until their penalties reach $30 -- the capped surcharge. The switchover won't happen until midnight tomorrow (the 13th), so those of you seeking to get grandfathered into the throttled plan better hop to it. Or you could just splurge on a pricier data plan, just like Little Magenta would want you to...

T-Mobile: overages on 200MB data plan in, throttling out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TiVo Premiere Elite quad-tuner DVR detailed, doesn't support OTA broadcasts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/tivo-premiere-elite-quad-tuner-dvr-detailed-doesnt-support-ota/

Earlier this summer, we got wind of TiVo's plans to release its Premiere Elite DVR -- a retail version of the company's quad-tuner Premiere Q, which is only available directly through service providers. We knew to expect four tuners on the Elite as well, letting you record content from up to four channels at once. A leaked FCC document sheds a bit more light on the Elite, revealing two terabytes of recording capacity (for a whopping 300 hours of HD), digital cable compatibility (read: no OTA), and support for Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), for networking with other MoCA-enabled devices in your home. Still missing, however, are a price tag and release date, though Zatz Not Funny predicts pricing to land in the $600-800 range, with a release this fall. $499 seems to be more on target, though, considering the Premiere XL's $299 price tag -- but even at $500, you better really love television if you're gunning to spend that much on a DVR.

TiVo Premiere Elite quad-tuner DVR detailed, doesn't support OTA broadcasts originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple patent application proves that Steve Jobs hates fingerprints as much as you do, probably more

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/apple-patent-application-proves-that-steve-jobs-hates-fingerprin/

Steve Jobs doesn't like fingerprints any more than you do, and given the man's focus on aesthetic perfection, we suspect that smudged displays are the sort of thing that keeps him awake at night. Apple has certainly flirted with oleophobic anti-grease displays in the past, but a newly surfaced patent application takes the whole thing to a new level. "Direct Liquid Vaporization for Oleophobic Coatings" outlines an intense process for the application of a grease resistant coating, whereby the substance is "placed in a liquid supply system coupled to a vacuum chamber," pressurized, vaporized, and then deposited. Take that, finger grease.

Apple patent application proves that Steve Jobs hates fingerprints as much as you do, probably more originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 20:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Droid Bionic spotted in the wild, again, blurrycam still in full effect

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/12/droid-bionic-spotted-in-the-wild-again-blurrycam-still-in-full/

We're getting tired of all this teasing without any payoff, but when it comes Motorola's forthcoming dual-core Droid, we can't help ourselves. Just days ago we saw the Bionic's guts when it passed through the FCC, and now we've got fresh pics of the phone in the wild. This most recent sneak peek comes courtesy of Howard Forums user ceb unit, who posted a couple photos of the device after a Moto rep let a friend get handsy with the newest Droid. It's good to see civilians get their paws on one, but enough already, we want shots of this thing in the hands of some happy customers!

[Thanks, Tu Tran]

Droid Bionic spotted in the wild, again, blurrycam still in full effect originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 22:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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