| Toyota RAV4 EV priced up at $49,800, arriving in California 'late summer' May 8th 2012, 12:18  It's been two years since we first heard of Toyota's electric vehicle plans and the company's finally ready to talk turkey on pricing. Announced at Los Angeles' Electric Vehicle Symposium yesterday, the "fully equipped" RAV4 EV will arrive before the end of the year for a few hundred shy of 50,000 bucks. The EV will reach up to 100 miles on a single charge, which can be reportedly replenished in around six hours from a 240V charger, while LED and halogen headlights are the latest design additions. The RAV4 will go up for sale in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego -- if you're somewhere in California, you have a shot of getting one. Toyota's got all the details in a press release right after the break. Continue reading Toyota RAV4 EV priced up at $49,800, arriving in California 'late summer' Toyota RAV4 EV priced up at $49,800, arriving in California 'late summer' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 08:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  Autoblog | | Email this | Comments | | Lenovo launches four Android-powered K-series Smart TVs in China this month May 8th 2012, 11:19  We first saw Lenovo's Android 4.0 tellymabob back at CES, now the firm is getting ready to unleash the full K-series of Smart TVs on China. Four models are on offer, the 55-inch K91 and K81 models, along with a 42-inch version of the latter and another at this size -- the K71. You may remember that Ice Cream Sandwich is running on a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon CPU and Lenovo claims the interface is a mix of touch, air mouse, gravity sensor, smart keyboard and conventional remote -- lots more to lose down the back of the couch, then. The firm's joint venture with SMG's BesTV -- iSmartv -- will provide on demand HD content, and its "Le Store" developer community will serve up the apps -- with over 1,000 claimed to be available already. Prices will range from 6,499 RMB to 14,999 RMB (about $1030 to $2370) and should be in stores across China this month. Lenovo launches four Android-powered K-series Smart TVs in China this month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 07:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Reuters |  Lenovo | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with Kyocera Hydro, a waterproof Android 4.0 smartphone (video) May 8th 2012, 11:00  It's been a while since we've seen a Kyocera smartphone for the US market, and if you'll recall, its previous two attempts -- the Milano and Echo -- didn't manage to sway many consumers. Today, the company is adding two new Android handsets to the deck: the Hydro and Rise. True to its name, the Hydro plays off of Kyocera's experience in the waterproof segment, and while it's not mil-spec, the phone's able to withstand submersion at depths of up to one meter for a half-hour. The Hydro is a CDMA handset, although Kyocera is keeping the carrier close to its chest. The Hydro will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, and we're pleased to report that the interface is largely unmolested, save for Kyocera's app to conserve battery life -- whether the carrier dictates future changes remains to be seen. Beyond the OS and the waterproof aspect, however, it's rather humdrum in the spec department. It features a Qualcomm MSM8655 SoC with a 1GHz CPU, a 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1,500 mAh battery. Because the screen is an IPS LCD, the quality is definitely a step-above your run-of-the-mill TFT-LCD mainstays, although it's hard to ignore the low-res image quality. The Hydro also offers 512MB of RAM, 2GB of built-in storage and a 2GB microSD card. In terms of connectivity, you'll find 802.11n (WiFi), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and EV-DO Rev. A. The handset itself is comfortable to hold, though its plasticky build materials reinforce the fact that it's a low-end handset. While the Hydro doesn't blaze any new trails, it may very well be suitable for those on a budget who'd like a phone that can handle life's accidents. Follow the break for our hands-on video. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report Continue reading Hands-on with Kyocera Hydro, a waterproof Android 4.0 smartphone (video) Hands-on with Kyocera Hydro, a waterproof Android 4.0 smartphone (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video) May 8th 2012, 11:00  Kyocera is looking to regain a foothold in the US smartphone market, and curiously enough, it's doing so by catering to niche audiences. First we saw the Hydro, a waterproof handset, and alongside it is the Rise, which features a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Both phones are built for CDMA networks, although Kyocera has yet to announce carrier availability for either. Spec-wise, the Rise is very similar to the Hydro, and this extends to the OS. In our brief time with the phone, we were treated to a largely vanilla interpretation of Ice Cream Sandwich, which makes the Rise a bit of a rare breed in the QWERTY world -- hopefully its future carrier doesn't dictate huge alterations. The phone features a Qualcomm MSM8655 SoC with a 1GHz CPU, a 3.5-inch, 480 x 320 IPS LCD display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and a 1,500 mAh battery. When compared to other QWERTY sliders, the handset itself is rather compact and fit nicely in our hand. We were similarly quite fond of the sliding mechanism on the Rise, which felt natural and provided just enough resistance. The four-row keyboard is altogether forgettable, but it should serve those who insist upon physical keys just fine. Our biggest gripe about the Rise, however, is its low-res display, which seems like quite a misstep -- even for a budget device. In terms of storage, you'll find 512MB of RAM, 2GB built-in and a 2GB microSD card. The Rise also features 802.11n (WiFi), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR and EV-DO Rev. A. It's safe to say that Kyocera is targeting budget audiences with the Rise, but the strategy may work to its advantage if other carriers fail to keep their QWERTY sliders up-to-date with the latest version of Android. You'll find our hands-on video after the break. Terrence O'Brien contributed to this report Continue reading Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video) Hands-on with Kyocera Rise, an Android 4.0 smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Wall-mounted interactive robot mimics emotions, follows you around, wants to be friends (video) May 8th 2012, 10:48  Not every robot is here to make our food, clean our floors or perform interstellar maintenance for us. Some automatons are there to simply be admired... or in the case of GIA (Gestural Interactive Automaton), to admire us. GIA's a robotic sculpture created by Daniel Jay Bertner that is essentially a projector, projection sphere and a webcam attached to a trio of servo-controlled articulating arms. A human face is projected on the sphere, which follows around folks who view it and changes its facial expression according to viewer reactions. Why? In order to "emulate and socially engage" them and facilitate a better understanding between man and machine, of course. The magic happens through open source motion tracking and facial recognition software, but you don't have to take our word for it -- see for yourself in the video after the break. Continue reading Wall-mounted interactive robot mimics emotions, follows you around, wants to be friends (video) Wall-mounted interactive robot mimics emotions, follows you around, wants to be friends (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 06:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Daniel Jay Bertner | Email this | Comments | |
