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Filed under: Cellphones

Ready to have your brain blown out through the top of your head? Look above — you’re staring at the heretofore unseen BlackBerry clamshell, the Kickstart. The Boy Genius snagged a handful of photos of the device (which apparently he’s known about for “a while”), and has decided to share his good fortune with the rest of the world. The phone sports a Pearl-esque keyboard, typical trackball navigation, and apparently utilizes both an internal and external LCD screen. No word on specs, carriers, or a release date, but BGR is saying this puppy is due before the end of the year. You’ll know more when we know more!

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May 1, 2008 The development of a new generation of lunar rovers has been given a boost thanks to funding for an exchange program between the Surrey Space Centre and the University of Beijing. The exchange will pave the way for future moon projects such as the UK‘s proposed Moonraker lander mission and the second phase of China’s Chang’e programme. ..

Tags: Space Travel

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May 1, 2008 Window film provides a boost to home energy efficiency - but how do you quantify this prior to installation? To answer this question window film manufacturer Panorama has launched new software that allows installers to calculate the environmental and cost-saving benefits of installing window film on small commercial and residential buildings. The Panorama Specularis Energy Analysis and Film Selection Tool not only calculates energy savings, but identifies the ideal window film for the property and accurately calculates the return on investment for window film installation…

Tags: Building and Construction, Environmental

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Boy Genius has reported the BlackBerry 9000 specifications. The handset features GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA support, a microSD memory card slot, HVGA Color LCD (480×320) display, TrackBall Navigation, 2MP shooter, WiFi connectivity and A-GPS navigation. You can purchase this gadget from AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone. [BoyGenius]

May 1, 2008 Those magnificent men in their flying machines… the first purely human-powered aircraft, the Gossamer Albatross, crossed the English Channel in 1979 with its pilot Bryan Allen pedaling the feather-light winged plane across in two hours to collect the UKP100,000 Kremer prize. This feat caught the imagination of French cyclist Stephane Rousson, who this European summer will attempt to cycle across the Channel pedaling a twin-tilting-rotor helium airship. It’s the first pedal-powered airship of its kind, complete with very delicate aerodynamics that mean Rousson will need to chance upon one of the three windless days of the year if he hopes to stay up-diddly-up-up and not go crashing down-diddly-own-down…

Tags: Airship, Aviation

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Thales UK’s optronic mast is a non-hull breaching substitute for a periscope, which rapidly captures a 360 degree scan and sends the image to the console screens in a sub’s operation center. The electro-optics system provides improved surface visibility, while allowing the ship to remain hidden from sonar detection. ..

Tags: camera, Naval Warfare, Submarine

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• Solar powered TrailerCam monitors construction site progress in HD quality

Written by Jason Chen
Some Macrumors readers are reporting that AT&T's Starbucks and Barnes and Noble Wi-Fi hotspots are coughing up free internet access for iPhone users. When you hit up the wireless at these locations, you get directed to a special iPhone-formatted page that asks for your phone number….

Original story at

Gizmodo.com
.
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May 1, 2008 A 28 kilometer-long bridge is being planned to link the Middle East and Africa. The US$20 billion bridge will become the longest suspension bridge in the world and tower some 400 meters above the water, with at least three spans of around 2700m each. Undoubtedly set to become one of the wonders of the modern world, the project includes plans to build entire cities at each end, linked by a six-lane motorway and a four-track railway. Adding complexity to the enormous task, which is expected to take some 12 years to complete, the bridge it is to be built in an area of intense seismic activity. ..

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Yesterday I got a tip that Vodafone NZ started SIM locking their handsets. I am still waiting for a confirmation from the operator, but the discussion on Geekzone is hot.

Vodafone had never locked their handsets in New Zealand, but I guess the idea of having competition from NZ Communications and Telecom New Zealand coming later this year is something that frighten them.

I agree that SIM locking handsets could be a smart move, if the operator provided the phones with significant discounts.

As it happens, currently being the only GSM operator in the country, sell their handsets at very nice prices (for them), with no subsidy at all, regardless of contracts being signed or not.

In other countries SIM lock is used a lot - even though in the U.S. it is legal for users to unlock the handsets at any moment.

In general we expect an unlock code to be issued at the end of a contract, or if the customer pays a fee.

There’s a discussion going on Geekzone now about this, and as it stands there’s isnt any official information from the company. Total silence.

We have no idea if Telecom NZ or NZ Communications will SIM lock their handsets. But we are still months away of seeing their networks commercially available - Telecom NZ is said to launch their GSM network in November 2008, meaning Vodafone NZ has started locking their customers six months ahead of the competition.

The good old days of "no contracts, no locked phones" are gone from this country.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless

Well screw us — T-Mobile’s 3G network debut tomorrow? It’s going to be voice only. That’s right, you heard us, VOICE ONLY. So trepidatious is this company to actually get their 3G data rollout, um, rolled out, they’re launching first with kneecapped voice-only service, keeping only EDGE for those demanding data. Here’s the snippet from the memo we received:

“3G is the next generation of our wireless network, following our current GSM network. In this early phase of our network evolution, 3G is a new technology for carrying wireless voice calls and supporting existing data capabilities on our network. In future phases, this next generation network will power ‘high-speed’ (3G) products and services that connect customers in new and exciting ways. … Inform customers who are interested in high-speed data that the first phase of our 3G roll out supports voice only.” [Emphasis ours]

No word on when T-Mobile actually plans to turn on the faster data, but for everyone who hasn’t already jumped ship — hoping against hope — the wait continues.

P.S. -Don’t believe everything you hear about this kind of thing being status quo. Every single major US 3G network — including Cingular, Verizon, and Sprint — went live as either data card-only (with phones added later), or data and voice together.

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Today T-Mobile USA announced the availability of a new pre-paid calling plan that lets users make unlimited calls to T-Mobile numbers for $1 and provides unlimited nationwide calling after 7PM as well.

Read the full story here.

Samsung’s P960 cell phone will be the first slider handset with mobile TV support in Europe. It will be supporting Euro mobile TV formats such as DVB-CBMS and OMA-BCAST. [CrunchGear]

Written by Don Reisinger
According to Fortune, "When the 3G iPhone is introduced this summer, AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone sales partner with Apple, will cut the price by as much as $200, according to a person familiar with the strategy."

That price cut will put the two versions of the iPhone — an 8GB model and…

Original story at

CNET News.com
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Applications and content from Motorola ecosystem partners help create the most compelling mobile experience for MOTO Z10 users

Read the full story here.

We don’t often report on rumors such as these, but T-Mobile has been set to launch its 3G UMTS network for some time now, and it makes perfect sense for it to start the roll-out in New York City.

Read the full story here.