Day: November 19, 2013

Space

MAVEN takes off: what you need to know about NASA’s new mission to Mars

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As reported on The Verge. By Alexander Thompson The latest venture to the red planet will investigate Mars’ mysterious atmosphere The idea of humans one day colonizing Mars is a tantalizing one, but there are some obvious obstacles to our long-term residency on the red planet. Chief among them? The absence of water. Research has established that Mars used to have liquid water on its surface, but now it’s a dry, dusty, inhospitable desert. Today, NASA will launch…

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Travel

Reliance on autopilot is now the biggest threat to flight safety, study says

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As reported on The Verge. By Casey Newton The tendency of commercial airline pilots to rely on automated systems now represents the biggest threat to flight safety around the world, according to a new study commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration. Pilots now struggle with manual flying tasks and in some cases fail to keep pace with changing technology in the cockpit, according to the Wall Street Journal, which saw a draft copy of the report. As a…

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Apple Tablet

To Mini Or To Air, That Is The iPad Question

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As reported in the TechCrunch. by MG Siegler Pop quiz, hot shot. You walk into an Apple Store to buy the new iPad. But there are two new iPads. The iPad Air and the new iPad mini. You can only buy one. What do you do? What — do — you — do? The new retina iPad mini is great. It’s everything you loved about the first iPad mini, but upgraded in the two most important ways:…

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Games Hardware Dev

Xbox One controller cost over $100 million to develop, smell-o-vision and built-in projector were considered

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As reported on Engadget. BY ALEXIS SANTOS While Sony was content to toy with radical designs for the PlayStation 4’s controller, it turns out Microsoft took a more conservative approach when building the Xbox One’s gamepad. GamesBeat scored a look at the controller creation process and discovered that Redmond was reluctant to tweak the Xbox 360 controller at all since it considers the hardware “best-in-class.” After some pressure from Zulfi Alam, Xbox’s general manager for accessories, Ballmer and Co.…

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Business Mobile

Samsung boasts 800,000 Galaxy Gear smartwatch sales in two months

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As reported on Engadget. BY MATT BRIAN   In an attempt to end speculation surrounding the popularity of its Galaxy Gear, Samsung has shared its smartwatch sales figures for the first time, and they might surprise you. Reuters reports that the company’s Android-powered wearable has sold 800,000 units since its launch in September, surpassing its own expectations and setting straight recent reports that pegged worldwide South Korean sales at 50,000 units. To stimulate sales, Samsung has offered plenty of incentives to buy the Galaxy…

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