This $170 Chromebook Runs For 13 Hours, and Will Support Android Apps

This $170 Chromebook has a super-thin design, 13 hours of battery life, and 4GB of RAM, all solid specs. But most importantly, it will support Android apps via Google Play in the coming months, which should dramatically
expand its capabilities. If you’re in the market for a travel-friendly portable, you could do a whole lot worse for the price.

Read more…

from Gizmodo http://ift.tt/2912zLO
via IFTTT

Bose’s New Speaker Only Costs $150 But You Have to Build It Yourself

Every company wants kids to build stuff—not in an illegal child labor kind of way but in a fun, educational kind of way. Ball robots are teaching kids code
and Google’s new modular blocks work toward a similar goal. But Bose’s BOSEbuild speaker is more interested in teaching the ins and outs of sound and speaker design. It also looks cool as hell.

Read more…

from Gizmodo http://ift.tt/298XWE3
via IFTTT

Alphabet proposes scrapping buses in favor of Ubers (Update)

Filed under:
,,


Google’s parent company Alphabet proposes that Columbus, Ohio, drop public transit in favor of ride sharing transport like Uber at discounted prices.

Continue reading Alphabet proposes scrapping buses in favor of Ubers (Update)

Alphabet proposes scrapping buses in favor of Ubers (Update) originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Jun 2016 11:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | 
Email this | 
Comments

from Autoblog http://ift.tt/291qrBe
via IFTTT

Watch NASA Test-Fire Its Heavy-Duty Mars Rocket

NASA is betting on its heavy-lifting rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), to carry astronauts to Mars in the 2030s. But first they need to make sure it can get off the ground.

At 10:05AM Eastern Time on Tuesday, the space agency will fire up the SLS’s main booster for two minutes to see how it performs when its propellant is cold. (Although it’s hot in the Utah desert, where the stationary ground test will take place, the fuel will be cooled to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit.)

This will be NASA’s second time test-firing the booster. The first, in March 2015, tested how the propellant fared at the higher end of its temperature range, at 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tuesday’s test will be the last before the rocket’s first real test flight in 2018, which will launch an uncrewed Orion capsule into lunar orbit.

Live coverage of the test begins at 9:30am Eastern.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now http://ift.tt/290bykb
via IFTTT

Volkswagen agrees to $14.7 billion settlement

Volkswagen’s deliberate cheating on emissions tests will cost it a record $14.7 billion. That’s far more than any other automaker has paid for wrongdoing.

Owners of the nearly 500,000 affected diesel cars will receive up to $10 billion to buy back their cars, according to documents filed in federal court in California. Volkswagen will also pay the difference between the buyback price and the excess amount left on their loans and lease payments.

In addition to the amount paid to customers, Volkswagen will have to pay $2.7 billion in environmental cleanup and $2 billion to promote zero-emission vehicles.

The cars had software installed that severely limited emissions when the cars were having their emissions tested, then dumped up to 40 times the allowable levels of some pollutants when being driven on the road. VW admitted to the wrongdoing in September.

Volkwagen faced up to $18 billion in fines for violation of the U.S. Clean Air Act, and it has already set aside that much money to settle the case.

The settlement amount dwarfs other payouts by other automakers.

General Motors (GM) paid a criminal fine of $900 million for a faulty ignition switch tied to at least 124 deaths, and an additional $600 million to victims and their families. It also faces a class action lawsuit seeking damages on behalf of car owners.

Toyota (TM) agreed in 2012 to pay a $1.2 billion fine, and settled with car owners for an additional $1.1 billion in the unintended acceleration case.

from Business and financial news – CNNMoney.com http://ift.tt/29bxYgg
via IFTTT