BMW’s all-electric i3 ready to roll in the US
At long last, BMW’s eco-friendly i-series cars are reaching US buyers. The automaker has delivered its first all-electric i3 models to a handful of Americans that include both loyal ActiveE driver Charles Rabie as well as Ashlan Gorse Cousteau, the wife of documentary maker Philippe Cousteau Jr. As the photo you see here would suggest, BMW is also close to rolling out “hundreds” of further orders to patient customers who’ve been waiting the better part of three years to see the EV become reality. The sportier (and wealthier) crowd will have to wait until September to scoop up the i8, but the i3′s arrival is good news if you have just over $41,000 to spend on tech-savvy, emission-free transportation.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: BMW
Scientists confirm the existence of the heaviest element ever seen
It’s tricky to verify the existence of super heavy elements; you have to fuse very short-lived materials, hope you get some useful atoms, and wait for someone else to reproduce your achievement. However, scientists at a particle accelerator lab in Germany have managed that rare feat by creating and confirming Element 117, the heaviest substance observed so far. It was produced by smashing together thousands of calcium 48 and berkelium 249 atoms, and is about 40 percent heavier than lead.
Not that you’ll get to see the fruits of that labor in person. The team created just four atoms, and those examples decayed into other elements within milliseconds. Even so, that should be enough to get Element 117 both a proper spot on the periodic table and a better name than the rather awkward “Ununseptium.” The decay also produced isotopes of additional elements whose half-life could be measured in hours, which is exceptionally long — that suggests that there are undiscovered super heavy materials that could be relatively stable.
[Image credit: Guillaume Speurt/My Last Destination, Flickr]
Filed under: Science
Source: Physical Review Letters
Google Now gains offline sync for those times without internet
Google Now has just had a major update to the way it works by gaining an offline sync feature allowing the service to be accessed at those times when you’ve got no internet.
Now live in the Google Play Store, the Google Search App will continue to function when accessing Google Now even without an internet connection.
Next time you’re on the subway and want to check on your day’s appointments with Google Now, you won’t have to worry about lack of cell service. Starting today (make sure you update your #GoogleSearch App for Android http://goo.gl/idgt3y) your Google Now cards stay loaded, even when you lose service in the subway… or your favorite underground bar!
So hit update and enjoy Google Now wherever you are.
The post Google Now gains offline sync for those times without internet appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Give your HTC One M8 the Harman Kardon treatment
The HTC One M8 is a great device, contributed to by the BoomSound front-facing speakers HTC have implemented on the device, but Sprint subscribers have access to an enhanced version of the M8 that includes Harman Kardon audio tuning.
Now non-Sprint subscribers can enjoy the same enhanced sound setup thanks to the XDA Developer forums as a tweaked version of the HTC One M8 can be installed on any model to enable the feature.
You’ll need to root your device to do so, but if you’re interested hit up the source link to head over to XDA Developers to find out how.
SOURCE: XDA Developers
The post Give your HTC One M8 the Harman Kardon treatment appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Motorola and LG Plan Events! Amazon Phone Renders Looking Sexy! – The ManDroid Show
The ManDroid Show is up a little late today gang, but long as its here, who really cares, right? Motorola and LG have an event planned, and we are hoping they will dazzle us with some device amazement. The Amazon phone is actually looking pretty good, even though we still don’t need an Amazon phone. Enjoy the Show!
News Topics
Motorola plans event
LG says, “Save the date.”
Sprint and T-Mobile merger being talked about again
Amazon phone leaked renders
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[Download] Google Drive gets updated to version 1.3.144.17, adds Docs and Sheets Integration
Earlier this week, you may have heard that Google launched two standalone apps specifically for Google Docs and Google Sheets. At the time, we were wondering whether this would cause any changes in Google Drive and today our questions have been answered. Today, Google Drive gets updated to version 1.3.144.17, and most crucially, requires that you download the Docs and Sheets apps to make changes to relevant documents.
This is probably a logical move to create separate apps from Google Drive to handle documents as Google Drive is increasingly being touted as Google‘s answer to cloud storage. In addition to this change, Google has also rearranged the slide-out menu to make it a bit more streamlined and accessible. For the full list of changes:
- Rearranged slide-out navigation panel with settings link (no longer in overflow menu)
- Prompts to install Docs and Sheets for editing capability
- Automatically uses Docs and Sheets apps in Drive
- New file button now in overflow menu
- New refresh item in overflow menu
The update is rolling out now, however if you haven’t got the update yet and need to have the latest and greatest, we have the APK file available for download below:
Google Drive version 1.3.144.17 APK download
Let us know what you think about these standalone apps and what you think about Google Drive now in the comments.
Source: Android Police
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OnePlus teams with Medic Mobile to offer the chance to donate your phone instead of smashing It
The OnePlus One is surely one of the more intriguing devices to be released so far in 2014. However, its launch has been somewhat marred by OnePlus’ Smash the Past marketing campaign; you can win the opportunity to get one of the OnePlus Ones for $1 if you volunteer to destroy it in a video on YouTube. Unfortunately the nature of the contest was announced before the official rules were put in place which ended up in many a prematurely destroyed smartphone. While it’s definitely a very interesting campaign, it’s not exactly productive, in the conventional sense, which is why it’s good to see that OnePlus has teamed with Medic Mobile to potentially do some good.
To the 100 applicants who have won the opportunity to buy the new OnePlus One for $1, Medic Mobile is working with OnePlus to offer these winners the chance to donate their phones to Medic Mobile’s cause instead of destroying them on video. For those interested, Medic Mobile is a nonprofit organization that recycles old phones so that healthcare workers in remote corners of the world can have access to better mobile technology. As Medic Mobile puts it:
“You’re giving the best new tech out there for $1 and recycling users’ existing phones for good. And then we’re turning those 100 phones into 1,000 phones for people that were left behind with the tech revolution. It brings it full circle in a really interesting way.”
I think it’s great that OnePlus has brought some good out of this campaign, but it seems like a waste to simply offer this option to only the winners of the Smash the Past competition; it should be offered to all purchasers of the OnePlus. But that’s just me thinking out loud; what do you think about all this? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source: OnePlus via TalkAndroid
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Recon Instruments’ Jet sporting sunglasses get delayed (again)
When we first saw Recon Instruments’ Jet at Google I/O last year, we expected to be using it to monitor our heart rate and speed on the track by fall. But alas, it wasn’t to be. In November the company delayed the launch of the extreme sporting sunglasses by “a few months,” and today it broke our hearts a little more — postponing the first shipments until September 25. Adding insult to injury, if you want to snag a pair of the high-tech glasses you’re also going to have to shell out a little more cash. Starting this summer the device will be priced at $699, up $100 from its original $599 price tag.
The news isn’t all bad. The delay is certainly disappointing, but when Jet finally hits the market it’s going to be even better than the prototype we saw in 2013. Since then the company has scored some cash and assistance from the likes of Motorola and Intel. CEO Dan Eisenhardt says they’ve been able to “make the module-to-lens attachment mechanism more robust, improve the durability of the plastics and sealing elements (one of our main concerns), and achieve considerably better GPS antenna performance.” All things that despite the release-date speed bumps, should make that first Jet ride a lot sweeter.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Recon Instruments
Microsoft wants you to help improve Kinect 2.0’s voice recognition
Using the Xbox One’s Kinect for voice commands is still pretty hit-or-miss for many, and Microsoft knows it. With the console’s next update, Redmond is adding an option for speech data collection as a way to crowdsource the sensor’s improvement. Writing on his blog, Xbox’s Major Nelson says that the more voice samples the company has to add to its algorithms, the more accurate the console can be. If you aren’t keen on the company collecting samples of your voice (which is entirely understandable!), it’s an entirely opt-in process. Should you want to help out, however, all you need to do is dip into the console’s privacy settings and enable it. This isn’t the first time that Microsoft has done such, though — a similar function was in place on the Xbox 360 as well.
The update also brings in a few user-requested features, too. The Xbox One is also getting a sound mixer for snapped apps and volume control for voice chat. The former gives you control over which app on-screen is the louder of the pair — perfect for listening to The Daily Show in the background while trouncing ghosts in Forza 5, we’d imagine — while the latter allows for control of volume levels if you’re using Kinect for voice chat.
What’s more, the on-demand system update button that arrived with the last …update is finally getting some action. This’ll allow you to grab the latest system software as soon as it becomes available — no more waiting for the roll-out fairy.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Source: Major Nelson
Jury Rules Samsung Infringed On Some Apple Patents, Ordered to Pay $119.6 Million
After three days of deliberations and several weeks of testimony, the jury reached a unanimous verdict in the second Apple vs. Samsung trial (via CNET). The jury found that Samsung willfully infringed on two of five patents involved in the lawsuit. As a result, Samsung has been ordered to pay $119.6 million, far from the total that Apple was hoping for.
In this second lawsuit, which began on March 31, Apple argued that Samsung owed it $2.2 billion in damages for infringing on five separate iPhone patents. Samsung argued that Apple had infringed on two of its own patents, asking for $6.2 million in damages.
Over the course of the trial, Apple called in numerous experts to argue why it was owed $2 billion, chalking the total up to lost profits and reasonable royalty estimates. Samsung argued that Apple’s $2 billion request was ludicrous, insisting it should owe only $40 million, or $1.75 per device.
While Samsung focused on proving that Apple was actually targeting Android in its suit, calling multiple Google witnesses like former Android chief Andy Rubin, Apple presented the jury with testimony from its own employees on the design, development, and marketing of the original iPhone.
During the trial, news broke that Google is covering lawyer fees and potential damage awards related to four of the patents in the lawsuit. Four of the five patents Apple has accused Samsung of infringing on are part of the Android operating system, and Google will presumably help pay damages for the ‘647 data syncing patent Samsung was accused of violating.
This damages award adds to the damages from the original Apple vs. Samsung trial, in which Samsung was ordered to pay Apple $890 million. This suit focused on newer devices, including the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, the iPhone 4/4s/5, the iPad 2/3/4, the iPad mini, and fourth and fifth generation iPod touch.
AIVAnet 