| Fido hops on the LTE bandwagon, gives Canadians frugal 4G this summer Jul 27th 2012, 07:16  Rogers was the first with LTE in Canada. Its budget brand Fido has largely been left out of that 4G fiesta, but the gap is closing today with official plans to give the yellow doghouse some LTE of its own. The initial deployment this summer will largely overlap Rogers' fledgling network, starting with benchmark cities Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, St. John's, Toronto and Vancouver. Only a Fido Mobile Hotspot with 10-device sharing will kick off the hardware selection; if you're impatient, though, any compatible and (usually) unlocked LTE device will do with a relevant SIM card. About 20 million Canucks will potentially have the high-speed option by the end of the year -- and with Fido's plan costs expected to stay the same, that coverage could make the provider a de facto choice for fast data in the Great White North. Click past the break for the official word and the full 2012 expansion list. Continue reading Fido hops on the LTE bandwagon, gives Canadians frugal 4G this summer Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless Fido hops on the LTE bandwagon, gives Canadians frugal 4G this summer originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments |   | Chinese microbot walks on water, skims the surface of insect-inspired design Jul 27th 2012, 06:02  Bugs are creepy. You don't need to be an entomophobe to empathize with that sentiment. But bugs are also inspiring -- to researchers in China, that is. Taking a cue from nature, a team of engineers from the country's School of Chemical Engineering and Technology have devised a microbot weighing just 0.02 lbs (11 grams) that can repeatedly jump across the surface of water without tanking. How'd they do it? Well, by using a highly repellent foam coating, the strider-like bot's legs are able to stay afloat with every 5.5 inch (14 cm) leap it makes, buffering the force that would normally plunge it below the H20. The creation of this hydrophobic mini-insectoborg isn't exactly the first of its kind, other aquatic gliders have come before, but this itty bitty fella's the first to successfully and repeatedly hop along an aqueous top. Unfortunately, there's no video demo for you to feast your eyes upon, so you'll just have to take our word for it. Continue reading Chinese microbot walks on water, skims the surface of insect-inspired design Filed under: Robots Chinese microbot walks on water, skims the surface of insect-inspired design originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  PhysOrg |  ACS | Email this | Comments |  |
