Notion Ink Adam Pixel Qi Tablet/Ereader Hands On: Your Screen Is Obsolete [Tablets]

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Housed in a wooden, painted prototype case, the Notion Ink Adam tablet is rough. But with Pixel Qi dual-mode screen tech on one arm and Nvidia's Tegra 2 on the other, it's one of the most exciting devices at CES.

We've seen a fair share of Android 2.0 tablets at CES, some of which share not only Android 2.0 with the Adam, but the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, too. But what they don't have is a Pixel QI transflective screen, a 10.1-inch panel that can switch between backlit LCD mode and low-power electrophoretic reflective mode, which looks more less like E Ink, and which actually gets easier to see in direct sunlight.

We got our first good look at this screen tech this morning, and we covered its weaknesses: the LCD colors aren't as vivid as a plain LCD's and suffers at some viewing angles, and the reflective mode suffers from the glossy screen's glare, but in both modes, it's good enough. (And Notion honcho Rohan Shravan says he's working on a fix for the latter issue.) What this means is that no matter what you're using the device for—browsing the web over 3G, reading an ebook, watching a video—you can switch between screen modes depending on your environment or preference.

As I said before, the device is still in development, so you're seeing protoype hardware (there's prospective second model with a curvier exterior, too), untouched software (Rohan promises a custom interface, with a solution for text input other than the awkwardly sized standard keyboard), and unoptimized performance (Android 2.1 should help the interface move a little more quickly). We'll get a fuller picture of the device come Mobile World Congress in February, as well as pricing info—though we're assured we'll be "very happy" about it.

Anyway, you can stack these caveats as high as you want, and the Notion Ink Adam is still taller, if just for this reason:

We repeat: The bullet's in the chamber. E Ink is going to die.



Hands-On: Phubby Wristband iPhone Holder [Accessories]

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Some people like to use those armband gadget holders that hit about bicep level. But what if you love your iPhone so much, you want it to feel your heart beating? You need a wristband holder. Thanks, Phubby.

Phubby (a combination of phone and cubby) doesn't necessarily have to be used with an iPhone, but it's exactly the right size and shape for one, and all of their press photos feature the iPhone, so, you know.

How does it work? Pretty awkward, which is exactly what you'd expect. It's odd to have a weighted object on your wrist, and running a headphone cable from your wrist to your ears is just asking for a trip to Tangle City, with a stop off at Earbuds Popping Out of Your Ears When You Reach for the Doorknobville. On the plus side, you totally can use the iPhone while it's in the Phubby (phub phub phub), since its cover is mesh, and it's super cheap at $13. Verdict? It works, but I can't think of why you'd go for a wristband over an armband. [Phubby]



The Meanest Thing Gizmodo Did at CES This Year Wasn’t That Mean [Ces2010]

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We've caught a lot of flak for our TV-B-Gone CES prank from two years ago. This year, we decided to focus on the press instead of the exhibitors.

We bought our fellow exhausted scribes free pizza! Because really, CES sucks the life out of you, we're all in this together and everybody loves pizza.

So yeah, it wasn't quite a prank, but a CES worker did get pretty ticked off at me and threaten to kick us out after taking my name down. Then she disappeared on the phone into an office, where I assume someone sensible told her you can't kick someone out of a trade show for buying people pizza.



Department of Homeland Bullshit

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Today I met with the Department of Homeland Security, for a little song and dance.

They made me jump through hoops, ride a unicycle, and dance a jig. Having deemed my performance to be satisfactory, the Department of Homeland Security gave me a cookie.

Nexus One Enterprise Version Could Have a Physical Keyboard, Bigger Battery [Android]

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On stage with Walt Mossberg, Google Engineering VP mentioned that an enterprise version of the Nexus One could have a physical keyboard and longer battery life—and there could be more Google devices, including a budget model.

The original question was about the the broader program of "Google" phones, as opposed to "With Google" phones, and generalized crap with Android. The Nexus One is the first in a series, or "program" as Rubin calls it, which could include new devices. Unprompted, though, he brought up the possibility of a new enterprise phone that's like the Nexus One, but with a physical keyboard and larger battery; he quickly backed off, but not before Mossberg asked about the possibility of a smaller phone, to which Rubin granted a half-nod. And then they dropped it. Come on, Goatberg!

Anyway: release date, specs, price, concrete existence are all still unknown or uncertain, but the Nexus One doesn't sound like it'll be alone in the Google Store for long.



Lego Universe Impressions: The Next Step In Lego Building [Hands On]

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Lego Universe has been in development for a couple years now, but we finally got the first hands on and impressions of the MMO for both kid and adult LEGO fans. It makes building and designing Lego sets incredibly accessible.

Basically, this is the natural evolution of the Lego brand. You know how you fondly remember playing with Lego sets when you were a kid? Your kids are going to remember this.

There are two components of the game that are pretty tightly interweaved: the more traditional MMO portions where you use your skills and interact with other players to achieve goals and defeat monsters, and the building bit, where you have your own territory and can build anything you want out of Lego pieces.

Since everyone's more interested about the building part, we'll cover that first. Lego says you have access to pretty much every part they have, from many of the unique Lego sets over the years (pirates, space, etc.). You have your own "home" area that you can build castles or whatever inside, invite your friends to visit and customize however you like. You can also assign behaviors and actions to what you build as well, by dragging and dropping actions onto easily-connectible UI segments. It's intuitive enough for kids, since Lego has been doing research into that segment for years.

The MMO part comes from the fact that it costs pieces (obviously) and in-game money to build, so you have to go out into the MMO world and adventure in order to earn both.

As for the MMO part, it's similar to a standard MMO, but instead of grinding for experience, you do certain tasks in order to earn achievements (like Xbox 360's). And when you earn achievements, you earn new items and abilities in order to access other parts—which are based on those traditional Lego sets.

Lego stressed that the game is going to be accessible to kids as well as adults, which is pretty great for parents who are looking for ways to relate to their children beyond yelling. And adults, like us, who are Lego fans, will get in on this game hardcore, making it an easy contender to top World of Warcraft in the MMO space.

This is a logical evolution in the Lego series. They already have Mindstorms, which has the programming aspect, and the set-design online tool, which lets you build your own sets and order them from Lego. Lego Universe integrates all of that into one cohesive (and fun!) product.

The best bit is the promise that you'll be able to take digital creations you make in the game and make a custom set, complete with constructions, in meatspace. Lego will figure out which pieces are necessary to build your masterpiece, give you a price list, and ship you a custom box with everything inside. It won't be available at launch, but it is coming soon. The game will ship in 2010. [Lego Universe]



Netflix CEO: Chances of Nintendo Wii Support Are "Excellent" [NetFlix]

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Without a hint of doubt, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that chances of Netflix on Nintendo—are "excellent." Stir that together with October's confident rumors about forthcoming Netflix support on the Wii and, well, you get it.

The quote came in response to an onstage question from AllThingsD's Peter Kafka, during an interview here at CES. The choice of "Nintendo" rather than "Wii" terminology was Kafka's choice, and was kind of unfortunate, because the only caveat to October's rumors was that Netflix may be waiting for Nintendo's next-gen product. In any case, it's not a confirmation, but it's close—Wii people, don't let your hopes for native Netflix die quite yet.



The Air Travel Climate Change Challenge

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Flying less won’t be a big deal to some people, but to business and the military it will be a big challenge. Developing massively polluting military transportation has been a big, profitable business for the U.S. and the Defense Dept.  will probably be the last to change.   We could solve a lot of the military emissions problem by ending our wars, but even that wouldn’t stop the DoD from ordering development of new military aircraft for sale to other countries.

Eventually, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, people are going to have to fly less.   Airplane traffic accounts for a large amount of global warming, about 15-20%.  That vacation to your favorite island by air might become an impossibility in the future.  (Has anyone invented the Holodeck yet?)

Naturally, it would be better for the climate if people telecommuted rather than fly somewhere in person, when possible — at least to climate change conferences!  The Copenhagen climate conference had an enormous carbon footprint:

The Copenhagen climate talks will generate more carbon emissions than any previous climate conference, equivalent to the annual output of over half a million Ethiopians, figures commissioned by hosts Denmark show.  Delegates, journalists, activists and observers from almost 200 countries have gathered at the Dec 7-18 summit and their travel and work will create 46,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide, most of it from their flights.

You’d think people who really want to solve climate change would stop adding to it by encouraging so many people fly to that conference, which was in a rather remote location for most of the world.   Some people took trains,  but of course that wasn’t possible for everyone.  Why did so many people who weren’t delegates or heads of state have to be there in person when our remote media capabilities have never been better? The air travel itself didn’t exactly set a great example for the rest of the world and the footprint handed climate skeptics a lot of ammo.  Air travel is going to be a real barrier in solving climate change, not just commercial air travel but private jets and military aircraft, which will probably be exempt from any carbon trading.  The military and commercial airliners are taking what steps they can to reduce emissions, like landing differently, but eventually they will need to replace their fuel with something that emits no carbon at all, or be taxed for every mile they fly.  If that happens, only the very rich will be able to fly anywhere.

According to Climate Progress, citing the journal Nature, aircraft vapor trails are responsible for 15-20% of Arctic Warming.

Nature (subs. req’d) reports on an analysis presented by Stanford’s Mark Jacobson to the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting last week:

The first analysis of emissions from commercial airline flights shows that they are responsible for 4–8% of surface global warming since surface air temperature records began in 1850 — equivalent to a temperature increase of 0.03–0.06 °C overall.

The analysis, by [...]

More HP Tablet Rumors: HP Android Tablet Will Be Bite-Sized…and More [Tablets]

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If Ballmer's revelation of the slate wasn't enough HP news for you, Bits reports the Palo Alto-based company is also working on an Android tablet roughly twice the size of an iPhone, and seemingly similar to Dell's Mini 5 Tablet.

Citing an anonymous source, Bits editor Nick Bilton was told there are multiple tablets HP has in the works, and the Android "half-pint" tablet was one of them. HP is also said to be rounding up magazine content partners for the devices, which include Microsoft, Adobe, BusinessWeek and Wired/Conde Nast.

In addition, TechCrunch heard similar rumblings about a HP Android tablet yesterday. [Bits]



Suck It, Street View, Navteq Maps the World in 3D… With Lasers [GPS]

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Google's Street View team famously photographs all kinds of weird stuff as they drive the world, but Navteq, who basically invented this stuff, just built a mount with seven cameras and 64 lasers to see everything better, in 3D.

Mounted atop a VW Jetta wagon is this crazy apparatus with a 12-megapixel panoramic camera on top and six more cameras pointed in specific directions to pick up signs and other data points. But the best gadgetry—the laser array—is housed inside a rapidly spinning barrel positioned at an angle. By using LIDAR, basically radar but with lasers, they scan everything within view, capturing 1.2 million points of data every second. The result is all kinds of terrain data that is not possible using just cameras.

The goal is "high accuracy maps," a deliberately vague notion that ranges from additional information—bridge underpass clearance heights, multilayer cloverleaf navigation and other obvious issues—to super rich 3D environments like the ones you see below. Those aren't CG renderings, in the traditional sense, it's laser-enriched photography.

Navteq, a Chicago company owned by Nokia who has been driving around making maps since the first GPS satellites were hurled into orbit, still provides a massive share of map data for web and devices, so the fruits of this tech might get to you sooner than you know.

As for your own personal rig, I sure want one, and my guess is that Google wants one too—if they don't have it already. [Navteq]



Hands-On With The Vuzix Wrap 920AR Augmented Reality Glasses: Fun, Shame About The Lousy Resolution [AugmentedReality]

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Taking design cues from the Oakley Thump MP3 player sunglasses is never a good idea. But that's not the only fault these Vuzix Wrap 920AR glasses have. The resolution sucks.

Unless you've never picked up an iPhone or Android handset—or don't have boasting friends with them—you would've heard of augmented reality, right? These glasses use stereoscopic cameras to create a "virtual world" where something you're fixing your begoggled vision on suddenly turns animated, with different 3D layers. You can connect the glasses to a screen so your pals can watch whatever you're viewing—and they're the lucky ones, because what you're watching, the wearer, sucks. The video you can see in the glasses is really low-res, and I actually had trouble with seeing the bottom of the picture. The lower the video gets, it seems to just fizzle and fade out.

The demo Vuzix was giving at CES was pretty fun. I was given a chart with rows of QR-type barcodes on, and when I looked through the glasses at it, it looked like one of those games where you tilt the board to roll a marble through a series of challenges. Just like "Maze" on the iPod Nano, actually. It was a really hurried demo, and actually I was thoroughly confused—the quality of what you're seeing through the glasses is so poor, I could barely see what I was doing. Everyone watching me had a hoot though, watching my gameplay on the TV screen above.

The glasses themselves look really shitty, and unlike the Oakley Thumps, you can't wear them like sunglasses. At $800, and with only one purpose, I'd say avoid.



Google Uses Free Holiday Wi-Fi To Promote the Nexus One [Google]

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The Tweets are flying with reports that upon connecting to Google's free holiday Wi-Fi, people are getting redirected to Google's Nexus One page. Smart, sure. But is it fair play, or does this self-promotion spoil Google's charitable act?

Travelers are reporting that, in many airports, connecting to Google's free Wi-Fi redirects browsers to the Nexus One home page at http://www.google.com/phone/. Between the iPhone's ubiquity and the Droid's aggressive marketing campaign, Google has to think outside of the box to stay competitive in the smartphone market. Plenty of people took advantage of Google's generous offer this holiday season, and redirecting to the Nexus One page is a surefire way to raise awareness about the new phone.

This promo comes in addition to the Nexus One banner that was displayed under Google's search box when the phone launched earlier this week.

When Google displayed a Chrome banner on their homepage last month, we wondered if it could alter the course of the browser wars. Could their considerable influence change the status quo for smartphone advertising as well? As Google's empire continues to expand, this type of self-promotion seems inevitable. But does it leave a bad taste in your mouth? [TechCrunch]