We just can’t get enough of these Grippity back-typing keyboards, and Jacob Eichbaum dropped by the Engadget trailer one last time to show us his super-early mockup of a Grippity back-typing gaming controller, along with the original prototype that started all this insanity. Apparently they’ve been getting a lot of interest from manufacturers, especially with the media remote we saw the other day, so hopefully we’ll see this crazy concoction hitting stores sometime this year.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Grippity drops by again to show off gaming mockup and original keyboard model originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A mobile phone signal and Google Street View have led authorities to find a young girl, who was allegedly kidnapped by her grandmother.

Though it has been out for some time, we’d not had the chance to really check out LG’s Renoir properly — even though Engadget Spanish has had a chance. Of course, LG’s massive booth featured an area dedicated to this 8 megapixel effort that we had to almost fight through to get at this phone. The interface is good, the weight and feel in-hand doesn’t come off as $10 plasti-crap, and the touchscreen does seem to get its job done. Crazy presentations aside, LG’s Renoir is a really solid effort, color us suitably impressed. Engadget Mobile has the gallery.

Filed under: Cellphones, CES

LG Renoir hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show

Day 1 of the 2009 Detroit Auto Show has ended, and we did our best to bring you the most complete coverage possible. In case you weren’t able to keep up with the coverage on Sunday, we’ve compiled every production vehicle and concept car below for your Monday morning perusal. Enjoy and come back often on Monday and Tuesday for more coverage of Detroit 2009.

Ford Motor Company
2010 Ford Taurus [w/VIDEO]
2010 Ford Shelby GT500 [w/VIDEO]
Ford ready to electrify the masses with EV car in 2012

General Motors
Cadillac Converj Concept [w/VIDEO]
Chevy Spark Concept [w/VIDEO]
Chevy Orlando Concept [w/VIDEO]
2010 Buick LaCrosse [w/VIDEO]
2010 Cadillac SRX [wVIDEO]
2010 Chevy Equinox [w/VIDEO]

Volvo
Volvo S60 Concept

Detroit 2009: Day 1 Wrap-up originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While we were living large at CES in Las Vegas yesterday, Toyota’s people were up in Detroit, working hard to amp up the crowd at the North American International Auto Show. The world’s largest auto maker fulfilled promises by giving more information about an upcoming electric car, showing off a concept called the FT-EV. Based on the iQ ultra-compact, which is currently available in Japan in petrol-powered guise, the battery version has a range of just 50 miles, making it suitable only for those living in those most urban of suburbs. Hopefully it gains a bit more stamina before it (or something similar) goes into production in 2012. Toyota also gave some further information about its impending plug-in Prius, indicating that before the end of the year it will lease 500 prototypes to consumers to act as mobile beta testers prior to the full release of the car. Only 150 of those will be available in the States, though, so you can go ahead and leave “Install extra outlet in garage” low on your to-do list for another year or so

Continue reading Video: Toyota unveils FT-EV concept, details plug-in Prius, you won’t see either for awhile

Filed under: Transportation

Video: Toyota unveils FT-EV concept, details plug-in Prius, you won’t see either for awhile originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

We’re all pretty torn up about the collapse of Electronic Gaming Monthly, a magazine that got some of us through many a dull Social Studies class during our formative years, but with the sorry economic state print publications currently find themselves in, it wasn’t a completely shocking turn of events. Yes, as humanity moves closer and closer to becoming a completely interconnected hivemind, we reckon all forms of offline media will soon become but a distant memory, save for the media that’s simply not that memorable.

But if the ages of print and broadcast could come to such an abrupt end, couldn’t the Internet Era meet a similar fate at some point down the road? Of course it could — which has led researchers at the Japanese Hardware Sales Institute of Media Studies to discover the next big thing in broadcasting: Telepathy. Using a hot plate, six-hundred liters of Lemon-Lime gelatin, two Schottky diodes and a highly sedated Bowhead Whale, we’re able to transmit thoughts directly into the minds of willing participants. We’ll do the final paragraph of this post in thoughtspeak (patent pending), so open your mind up to our outgoing transmission.

What, you’re not getting it? Well, we guess you’re not one The Susceptibles. Unless — hold on. Yeah, we cooked another Bowhead Whale. Darn it. Those things aren’t endangered are they? That was like, our fifth one. They are? They’re extremely endangered? Well, isn’t that a fart in the face. Sorry, nature!

- DSi: 182,518 6,179 (3.27%)
- PSP: 157,088 38,323 (32.27%)
- Wii: 119,965 14,993 (11.11%)
- PS3: 60,654 14,665 (31.89%)
- DS Lite: 48,160 8,293 (14.69%)
- Xbox 360: 19,694 6,683 (51.36%)
- PS2: 12,548 2,144 (20.61%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: The susceptible archives

Japanese hardware sales, Dec. 29 - Jan. 4: New, new media edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The commotion in the room when we found out the eyes light up was seriously louder than for the Pre announcement.

Filed under: Gaming

Awesomegadget CES: Dragon Fire Breather originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We already ran through Powermat’s new wireless charging lineup, but in case you wanted to see it in action — you skeptic, you — there’s video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Powermat’s wireless charging lineup in action

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals

Video: Powermat’s wireless charging lineup in action originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: OS Updates, Features, Freeware, Open Source, Lists

For the last few days, Windows 7 is just about the only OS anyone has been talking about. I figured it was high time for us to share the love and take a look at some other interesting free, downloadable operating systems.

Here’s a collection of 20 that are worth checking out. There are plenty more, so if you’d like to add your favorites, share them in the comments!

Fedora 10 (pictured) - One of the few live distros that didn’t have any trouble with the hardware on my MSI Wind netbook. My acid test: can it properly suspend and wake? Yes - and it does it faster than Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7. OpenSUSE and Ubuntu both failed to resume properly.

Damn Small Linux - I wouldn’t feel right not listing Damn Small. It’s pretty amazing what you can do with a whole OS that’s not much bigger than most Windows antivirus applications. 50mb gets you Firefox, XMMS, VNCViewer, MS Office Viewer, and much more. It’s also easily extendable through the MyDSL service or by using the apt command.

Linux Mint - While it’s based on Ubuntu, Mint has some features that I think make it a bit more user-friendly. For starters, there are several easy ways to find and install new software including the dead simple Mint Software Portal. Find an app, click the install button, bada bing!

Continue reading 20 awesome free OS downloads that aren’t Windows 7

20 awesome free OS downloads that aren’t Windows 7 originally appeared on Download Squad on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Mac, PC, Meta (about Joystiq)

The first full week of 2009 got Big Download back in full steam with lots of news, downloads and features to make it a pretty busy week. Let’s check out the highlights from the last seven days:

Exclusive features

• Console games that should be PC games: We give our picks on which 2008 console exclusive games should come to the PC and which 2009 console titles should do the same.
• Even more Black Ops PC games: We head to the secret well to get some info on the PC games that are under development that you may not know about.
• 10 Comics we want to see made into games: There’s lots of comic books that would be perfect for games; we just picked 10 of them.
• Quake Live preview: We go hands-on with id Software’s upcoming free version of Quake III Arena.
• Rise of the Argonauts review: We review this recent action-RPG from Liquid Entertainment and Codemasters.
• Mac Monday: Our weekly Macintosh column takes a look at the sim game Floating Kingdoms.
• Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes takes a gander at body types in games.
• Indie Showcase: Our weekly look at indie games is something special: Our picks for the best independent games released in 2008.
• Big Iron: Our weekly hardware column returns with a look ahead to the next year.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free games this week offers up the sandbox-like sci-fi title Transcendence.
• Virtual Bargain Bin: Our cheap games column returns with a look at the 1998 shooter SiN and its 2006 sequel SiN Episiodes: Emergence.

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: January 5-11

The Best of Big Download: January 5-11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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