Two Scary Incidents Almost Forced Felix Baumgartner To Abort His Mission

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/ns1repmi4Yg/felix-baumgartner-breaks-the-sound-barrier-2012-10

Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in a 24-mile jump from the edge of space today.

But that almost didn't happen.  

Two serious issues nearly forced the Austrian daredevil to abort his mission, he revealed in a press conference. 

First, the heater in his visor wasn't working. This caused to his visor to fog up when he exhaled. 

"On our checklist of things we had this as a mission abort. If you cannot see anything you cannot leave the capsule,” he said.  

Second, immediately after bunny-hopping off the capsule Baumgartner "was supposed to get himself into a delta position — head down, arms back - as soon as possible," explains the BBC. Instead, the Austrian went into a flat spin and video footage shows him tumbling multiple times.  

Baumgartner could have pulled his stabilization parachute at this point, but at the cost of gaining enough speed to break the sound barrier.  

By now we all know how it ended. The extreme sportsman landed safely after 10 minutes in free fall. He reached speeds of 833.9 mph or Mach 1.24 and set several other records including highest manned balloon flight and highest skydiving jump.  

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Kimera Systems wants your smartphone to think for you

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/13/kimera-systems-wants-your-smartphone-to-think-for-you/

When Google took the wraps off Now we all got a pretty excited about the potential of the preemptive virtual assistant. Kimera Systems wants to build a similar system, but one that will make Mountain View's tool look about as advanced as a Commodore 64. The founder of the company, Mounir Shita, envisions a network of connected devices that use so-called smart software agents to track your friends, suggest food at a restaurant and even find someone to paint your house. That explanation is a bit simplistic, but it gets to the heart of what the Artificial General Intelligence network is theoretically capable of. In this world (as you'll see in the video after the break) you don't check Yelp or text your friend to ask if they're running late. Instead, your phone would recognize that you'd walked into a particular restaurant, analyze the menu and suggest a meal based on your tastes. Meanwhile, your friend has just reached the bus stop, but it's running a little behind. Her phone knows she's supposed to meet you so it sends an alert to let you know of the delay. With some spare time on your hands, your phone would suggest making a new social connection or walking to a nearby store to pick up that book sitting in your wishlist. It's creepy, ambitious and perhaps a bit unsettling that we'd be letting our phones run our lives. Kimera is trying to raise money to build a plug-in for Android and an SDK to start testing its vision. You check out the promotional video after the break and, if you're so inclined, pledge some cash to the cause at the source.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Alt

Kimera Systems wants your smartphone to think for you originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook gets updated with Ivy Bridge (updated)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/dell-xps-13-ultrabook-ivy-bridge-refresh-touchscreen/

File this under things we could've sworn happened already: Dell is updating its nine-month-old XPS 13 Ultrabook with third-generation Core (read: Ivy Bridge) processors. While the rest of the company's Win 8 lineup isn't shipping until October 26th now, the refreshed XPS 13 should already be live on Dell's site, with the same starting price of $1,000.

Update: A previous version of this article reported that the XPS 13 would be available with a touchscreen. In fact, it will still be offered with non-touch-enabled panels only.

Filed under: Laptops, Dell

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook gets updated with Ivy Bridge (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell to offer its XPS 27 and Inspiron One 23 all-in-ones with optional touchscreens

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/dell-xps-27-inspiron-one-23-optional-touchscreens/

Dell gave us a heads up back at IFA that it was planning on offering its high-end XPS 27 all-in-one with an optional touchscreen. Well, that day has come: the company just announced that it will begin accepting pre-orders today, with the touch-enabled models starting at $1,600. As a quick refresher, that 27-inch screen tops out a whopping 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, while the stand tilts to a near-flat angle of 60 degrees. If sixteen hundred bucks is more money than you were planning on spending, Dell will also offer the Inspiron One 23 with an optional touchscreen. At a fraction of the cost ($780 and up) it makes do with lesser specs (a 1080p, not quad HD, display, for instance), but it has been refreshed with Ivy Bridge, so you should at least be future-proofed on the CPU front. Again, you can order these starting today, but don't expect them to ship until after October 26th.

Filed under: Desktops, Dell

Dell to offer its XPS 27 and Inspiron One 23 all-in-ones with optional touchscreens originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 8 packaging and pricing revealed: standard OEM $99, Pro Pack $139, pre-order from today

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/12/windows-8-packaging-and-pricing-revealed/

We're almost there. Just a few more days until the big reveal. But that doesn't mean there aren't still a few final Windows 8 secrets to be disclosed. Two of those are the price and the packaging, which online retailer Newegg has just let slip. There are four packages listed: Windows 8 Professional Upgrade ($69), Windows 8 Pro Pack ($69, product key card only), Windows 8 OEM ($99) and Windows 8 Professional ($139), with the latter two being available in both 32- and 64-bit versions (for the same price). If you go into the product page, however, we can see that the original price for the upgrade and product key card only versions is listed as "$199" suggesting that this might either be a launch offer, or subject to change. Don't forget though, there's still the chance to upgrade for an even lower price, for those who qualify. You can officially reserve your copy of Pro from today for $69.99 at all the main retailers, but if you can hold back on that impulse purchase for just a little longer, you'll be able to upgrade to Pro online for $39 (until January 31st). Follow the source for details.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft

Windows 8 packaging and pricing revealed: standard OEM $99, Pro Pack $139, pr! e-order from today originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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