Apple patents 8cm to 12cm disk adapters
Filed under: Storage
We’re not sure this is still relevant — the patent was filed in May of 2006 — but the USPTO has just published a patent application from Apple detailing a number of different 8cm to 12cm optical disk adapters. The application, credited to Tony Fadell, chief of the iPod division, says that since most software doesn’t take up all of the available storage on a disk, it would be cheaper and simpler to use the 8cm disks when appropriate — but that having to ship a standard adapter for slot-loading drives reduce any costs, because they’re the same size as 12cm disks. The solution is to make the adapters smaller when they’re not in use, and the filing goes on to detail several different folding and multi-part takes on the idea. Considering that such an adapter would make things slightly more complicated for the vast majority of Apple’s all-slot-loading installed base, we can’t see these ever actually shipping, but it’s still an interesting idea.
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Honda’s 1981 Electro Gyrocator: vintage navigation at its finest
Filed under: GPS, Transportation
If you’ve balked at the prices automakers are charging for integrated navigation systems, you should really take a look at what ¥300,000 ($2,746) would buy you in 1981. That atrocity you see above was an actual option in Honda’s Accord during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, and while it didn’t sync up with any satellites, it did help to guide you along in some form or another. The Electro Gyrocator, as it was so eloquently named, accepted transparencies of maps and utilized a gas gyroscope that allowed the map to move with the motion of the car and plot your progress. Once a certain map ran out of road, you just popped the next one in and kept on cruisin’. And here we are kvetching about whether our portable navigator has 10 or 11 million POIs…
[Via Autoblog]
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Evergreen’s card-styled DAP: it’s business time
Filed under: Portable Audio
As far as we know, Evergreen’s Business Card MP3 Player doesn’t come pre-loaded with Flight of the Conchords’ most relevant jam, but you can’t deny it’d be a great fit. This all-white, ultra-simplistic DAP checks in at 86- x 55- x 6-millimeters, weighs just 36-grams and includes 1GB of storage space. You’ll also find a flip-out USB 2.0 connector, internal speaker and some sort of recording function. Slip one into your tight leather jacket pocket for a steep $126.19 — it should make sorting the recycling much less tedious.
[Via AkihabaraNews]
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Comcast CEO sees 160Mbps internet in 2008
Filed under: Networking
Remember that blisteringly fast channel bonding modem Comcast showed off earlier this year? Turns out that the firm’s CEO is apparently aiming to roll out internet services that can reach up to 160Mbps down / 120Mbps up sometime in 2008. As in, next year. In a recent interview with Fortune, Brian Roberts stated that service based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology would start “rolling out” sometime in 2008, and casually noted that it should provide “more than enough bandwidth to do multiplayer online gaming.” Additionally, Cable Digital News explains that the firm has plans to cover some 20-percent of its footprint with the uber-quick service before 2009, and while we’re left to guess what areas will be covered, we’d bet locales fetching FiOS could entertain some competition. Granted, we’ve still got aways to go before we can go toe-to-toe with a certain Swede, but we’ll take any progress we can get.
[Via ArsTechnica, image courtesy of AFP / BBC]
Read - Fortune interviews Comcast CEO Brian Roberts
Read - Comcast closes in on 100Mbit/s
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Talks between Apple and China Mobile squelched… or are they?
Filed under: Cellphones
Barely a fortnight after Apple began talking with China Mobile about getting the iPhone into the ginormous Chinese market, it seems that negotiations are off — or still on, or something. Yesterday, Nanfang Daily reported that China Mobile’s CEO felt that the “iPhone model was not suitable for China,” but unnamed reporters suggested that the real reason behind the call-off was the inability for both entities to agree on — surprise, surprise — a revenue sharing model. Today, however, a report over at Bloomberg notes that Apple has in fact not ended discussions with China Mobile, and moreover, it was said to have “denied newspaper reports” claiming otherwise. ‘Course, we’ve got two sides of the story here, and while Apple may feel that there’s still room to negotiate, China Mobile may see things quite differently. Time will tell, we guess.
[Via Macworld]
Read - Nanfang Daily report
Read - Bloomberg report
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