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The Brits get all the cool stuff — Queen Elizabeth II, The Sex Pistols… and now a rubbish truck that runs on rubbish (sort of). That’s right: up in Huddersfield they’ve just unleashed a modded three-and-a-half ton Smith Edison Ford Transit garbage truck that tools around, picking up garbage, hauls it to a nearby Energy from Waste power station and recycling center which then burns the ‘bage to make electricity for the next day’s route. The garbage also produces about 10 megawatts of excess electricity per day which is dumped into the grid for added fun. The truck’s got a top speed of about 50 miles per hour, and is apparently so quiet that the locals fear it could be dangerous to unsuspecting pedestrians. Maybe they could slap a speaker on there and pump some Oasis as a warning? Just a thought.

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By Luke Anderson

Is it just me, or do drinks taste better when they are carbonated? Take grape soda for example, that’s much better than your run-of-the-mill grape juice. Now granted, one of those two is probably healthier for you than the other (depending on if it’s real juice), so why not add a little carbonation to it? I’m no science whiz, but apparently all it takes is some baking soda, vinegar and one of these funny little u-fizz contraptions.

Apparently you can carbonate just about any liquid you’d like with one of these little suckers. I’m pretty sure that the first thing I’d try would be Jell-o. That would be some pretty cool stuff right there. If your kid needs a science fair project, or you’re bored with your current non-carbonated drinks, then this $7 kit will get you started.

[ ScientificOnline ] VIA [ Technabob ]

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By Evan Ackerman

Here’s the coolest stuff from the Toshiba booth at CES. There’s plenty more cool stuff after the jump, and I’ve saved the best (IMO) for last.

Now this is a pico projector. It’s a prototype (can’t tell if it was functional or not), but Toshiba is shooting for 2010 in this form factor.

Toshiba media server. It’s a prototype and it may not even be functional, but it’s got cool LEDs and it’s a dodecahedron!

Lots more, click on through.

Spill resistant sealed keyboard. The demo says 3 minutes, but the rep said that the water had been on for 6 hours. Available now in Toshiba business notebooks.

Water resistant internet viewer. Looks pretty close to waterproof, to me. Great for showing movies to your fish. Prototype.

SCiB external battery pack. We had a look at these back in October; they charge to 90% capacity in 10 minutes and are good for 5,000 cycles. You’ll be able to get adapters to power your laptop from this. Should launch in December of this year along with the SCiB laptop batts.

SD photo album. Kinda a neat idea, and it’s got a nice look, even if the screen is a bit small. Rep said there had been a lot of interest, but there are currently no plans for production.

Leaning LCD TV. You don’t need a stand or a mount, it just leans against the wall. It’s also a pretty nice TV, with a mirrored glass bezel with LEDs underneath and an integrated DVR with a totally unnecessary but awesome 256 gig SSD.

Prototype internet viewer. It’s powered by an integrated methanol fuel cell good for one week of normal use. It comes in 7″ or 4″ and the keyboard is somehow wirelessly connected to the screen, but the screen is also a touchpad so the keyboard is optional based on what you need to do. Note that this thing is completely functional, and the Toshiba rep told me that it’s due out in December 2009. I don’t believe it (it was a PR rep, not an engineer), but that’s what they told me. Fingers crossed.

[ Toshiba ]

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As many of you know, CES 2009 is now officially underway with a big launch event last night and several press conferences today with various companies announcing the cool stuff they’re showing off. For us tech lovers, this is a wondrous time filled with sneak peeks at the future of technology.

This weekend I will have the privilege of being in the middle of it all, in Vegas on the CES floor. I will be burning plenty of calories in the hopes of taking a first-hand look at many of the coolest new gadgets, and I will be letting you know about every cool mobile gadget, accessory, and feature I can find. This is truly a tech geek’s heaven, as well as an excellent way of lowering blood pressure.

In the meantime we are going to keep you updated on all the latest breaking news and info being announced. If you’re going to be there as well, let me know!

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By Evan Ackerman

The first thing I learned at the Asus press conference is that it’s pronounced “Ay-zoose,” not “Ay-zuss.” Oops. Moving on, we were introduced to the S121 notebook, which has a 512 gig SSD (!) inside. You wouldn’t think a drive that size would fit inside the 1 inch thick 3 pound chassis, but it also manages to incorporate an 8 hour battery. The S121 is Atom based, but uses a proprietary Asus HD controller that gives a 20% performance boost. The drive itself is also 2x faster than other SSDs, and 3x faster than HDs. The Asus S121 should be available at the end of this month for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1649.

Also in the 1 inch thick category is the Eee PC T91, an updated version of the first netbook ever. Weighing in at 2 pounds, it’s Atom based, and has an 8.9″ LED backlit touch panel that swivels around to turn the computer into a tablet. If that’s not cool enough, it also has an integrated TV tuner and GPS. No price or release date as of yet, but it’s expected to be competitive with other netbooks.

See what this is (and more cool stuff) after the jump.

If you like the small screen of netbooks but hate the small keyboard, you might like the Asus Eee keyboard. It’s an entire computer crammed into a full-size QWERTY keyboard, with a little touchscreen one one side. The way it’s supposed to work is that you carry the keyboard around, and it’s able to wirelessly access whatever displays you might be next to via ultra wideband wireless HDMI. I’m not sure how many displays actually have that at the moment, but it would be good for a media center type thing, and Asus is planning on definitely putting this into production.

The Asus N20 is much more in the prototype category. It’s a concept that Asus calls “dual-mode computing,” and there are actually two computers here, in the same case using the same battery. Both screens are multi-touch, and the smaller 4.3″ one is capable of controlling the primary screen. The idea is that you can do stuff like chat and email and basic internet on the small screen (which is instant-on), using a minimum of battery. If you want to then play a movie, the little computer can stick it on the bigger screen. And you’ve always got the other full size computer there if you want more capability. Asus estimates that you’d be looking at 12 hours of battery life with the N20.

This last computer may look like a concept, but it’s actually a functioning prototype of a folding computer. Yes, most laptops fold, but this is designed to be folded up with other computers to allow for sharing and collaboration:

In order for this to work, the screen has to be semi-transparent, and sure enough, it is:

Pretty cool, right? No idea when or if this thing might happen, but at least they have one that works, and that makes me all tingly and stuff.

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Flexible OLED displays are becoming more and more commonplace (and festive), despite not actually being available in any devices you can buy just yet. When that day finally comes, Universal Display Corporation thinks one of those gadgets will be something like the above: a wearable, flexible, 4-inch prototype screen that CES attendees will be able to check out and maybe even try on — albeit uncomfortably. It’s been developed with military applications in mind (they always get the cool stuff first), but bendy consumer devices are naturally envisioned as well. There’s no word on when we’ll start seeing them in passports or flexi-phones, but we’re thinking we have a while to wait yet.

[Warning: PDF link; via OLED-DISPLAY.net]
Source

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By Luke Anderson

Ever since Scosche spoiled me with their passPORT, I’ve been wanting a nice radio that my iPhone can dock with. Alas, it’s still rather difficult to find one that will recharge my iPhone, and not make that annoying buzzing sound now and again. Thankfully iLuv has seen this as a problem as well, and sought to fill the apparent void.

The iLuv iHD171 HD Radio has just about every feature you’d want from a home dock. You’ve got the simple stuff like a dual alarm clock, TV output and AM/FM radio with song title display. Then you’ve got the really cool stuff like an HD Radio tuner and iTunes Tagging. If you’re not familiar with iTunes Tagging, when you hear a song played in HD, you can have your iPod (or iPhone) remember that song’s info so that you can download it later. The unit also charges any iPod or iPhone and even has a 3.5mm auxiliary jack for hooking up other devices. Look for this to go on sale next month for $199.

VIA [ iLuv ]

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Okay, we had no idea we’d have to liveblog this, but we’re setting up for the meetup tonight and there are already six people in line. Four hours early. In the rain and snow. In other words — yeah, this sucker is still on, and we’re going to rock it. We’ll be updating as company reps get here and start setting up, check it out after the break, along with all the info you need to brave the elements and party with us tonight.

Update: We’re working on setting up the Ovi slideshow, peep the last set of line pics after the break and check back in a few for the live streaming action!

We gave them their giftbags a little early.

3:15PM EST: Yep, there are already people in line. FYI, the entrance is on 9th Ave, not 16th Street.

3:42PM EST: Cesar from ZuneInsider is here and working furiously — hmm, wonder what kind of phone he’s got…

3:51PM EST: Josh just rolled in with a report that there are now 20 (!) people in line. Craziness!

3:55PM EST: A random reader just wandered in through the loading dock and asked us where the party is. We did not give him a microSD card.

4:17PM EST: The line grows, even though it’s basically raining ice pellets. People are huddling for warmth, and we’ve seen a couple collective group coffee runs.

4:40PMEST: Phil Torrone and the MAKE guys just got here, they’re setting up — we hear they’ve got a little surprise in store for us later.

PT and Josh reminiscing about 2600 magazine.

5:01PM EST: The line’s down the block, it’s getting dark, and people are ready to get down. Josh and I are about to go hype up the crowd a little bit, we’re all super excited.

5:12PM EST: Nokia’s here, with a ton of cool stuff to play with!

5:21PM EST: The line outside’s turned the corner, it’s cold, but spirits are high. We promise, tons of free stuff will warm everyone right up.

5:28PM: Paul Miller has arrived! He is threatening to perform a song called “The Lament of Ryan Block” in his best Taylor Swift voice.

5:40PM EST: The lights have been turned down — just about an hour to go! The Ovi people should be here soon, uploading in real time — we might switch over to them when that happens.

6:45PM EST: The line is around the building, and things inside are at full tilt. We’re checking out for now — be sure to hit up out live party stream post in a few!

—


This is it! The Engadget reader meetup / holiday party is happening tonight in New York City! All of the information you need is below, but we’d like to stress a few points:

The venue capacity has a limit, so make sure you get there early, and plan to wait in a bit of a line.
It is snowing like crazy in New York — so please bundle up and come prepared for the elements! We’ll do everything we can to move people inside as quickly as possible, and there’s a coat check at the venue for your heavier gear.
Bring your ID! Without it, you can’t get in!

And the rest of the details about the event:

We’re giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including…

SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we’ll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you’re coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

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