Vauxhall Ampera police car: Chevy Volt’s European cousin goes blue

The Chevrolet Volt is donning a police uniform. As part of a trial Vauxhall, General Motors’ British division, gave the keys to an Ampera to Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) at a press event in Belfast.

The Ampera is a nearly identical twin of the Volt sold in the U.K. by Vauxhall and in Continental Europe by Opel. It uses the same 1.4-liter gasoline range extender, electric motor, and 16.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack as its American cousin.

“We’re looking forward to putting the revolutionary Ampera through its paces responding to incidents while also reducing our emissions and providing significant savings on fuel costs,” said Marcus Belshaw, head of transport for PSNI.

Vauxhall says Northern Ireland is a good environment for the Ampera because of its well-developed charging infrastructure. It says drivers there are never more than 10 miles from a charging station.

PSNI said the Ampera would be used as an “incident response vehicle,” but didn’t say exactly what police work it would be used for. The Ampera definitely won’t intimidate criminals like the defunct Carbon Motors E7, and it probably won’t be much good in a high speed chase.

The New York Police Department uses a few Volts as traffic enforcement vehicles, really an ideal assignment considering that those units spend a lot of time driving at slow speeds or idling.

Portugal’s national police force, the PSP, operates eight Nissan Leafs. They’re primarily used to patrol school zones, another job that’s well suited to a zero-emission vehicle.

It’s too early to tell if the electric police car will catch on, but what car doesn’t look cooler with a set of flashing lights?

Stephen Edelstein graduated from Clark University in 2011 with an M.A. in American History. He was the Editor in Chief of Clark's student newspaper, The Scarlet. Stephen enjoys all things historical, science-fictional, and transportation-related.

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Sony’s handheld is blowing up in Japan, but it’s not because of the PS Vita price cut

Don’t call it a come back, the PS Vita may be here for years. Sony’s beleaguered handheld gaming machine spent its first birthday in February as a ball and chain around the company’s already sagging PlayStation division. By the end of the month, Sony showed that it was dead set on turning the device around. The company made simultaneous announcements that the PS Vita would be closely tied to the upcoming PlayStation 4 for remote play, and it would be receiving a price cut. The PS Vita price cut, however, was only for Japan. It’s worked, though: PS Vita sales have quadrupled in Sony’s homeland, leading the Japanese console sales charts for two weeks running.

According to Japanese sales tracker Media Create, the PS Vita was the best selling console from Feb. 25 through Mar. 10, selling more than 126,000 handhelds over that two span since the price drop.

Sony knew that the price of the handheld was too high, especially in Japan. “Based on our research, there are two broad reasons why people who may want to try the Vita aren’t purchasing it,” said SCEJ president Hiroshi Kawano in February, “One, they want to wait until there’s a game they want to play on it. Two, the price is a little out of reach for them.” Fluctuations in the yen forced Sony to keep the price higher in Japan than in the rest of the world. Now the Vita is approximately $214 in the country.

As with all gaming machines though, it’s the games themselves that lure in customers, and PS Vita’s surge in Japan simply may not be entirely replicable abroad. As much as the price drop has provided incentive for Japanese gamers to flock to the system, the PS Vita has also seen the release of three new games that are immensely popular in the country but may have little appeal outside its borders.

The biggest of these is Phantasy Star Online 2, the free-to-play Sega MMO and sequel to the Dreamcast pioneer developed by Sonic Team. Since releasing on PS Vita on Feb. 28 as a totally free digital download and as a limited edition retail game, Phantasy Star Online 2 has sold nearly 72,000 copies. Then there’s Tales of Hearts R, a remake of a crossover brawler based on Namco’s Tales RPGs. Always a hit in Japan, that game sold more than 55,000 copies in its first week on sale. Finally, there’s Soul Sacrifice, the Monster Hunter-style action RPG developed by Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man and Dead Rising. In just three days on sale, Soul Sacrifice sold more than 92,000 copies.

There is a direct correlation between the release of these games and PS Vita’s sales surge in Japan. The price cut was a start, but it wasn’t the sole driving force behind the bump. Even if Sony drops the price of PS Vita in the US and Europe—which it’s already tentatively doing—it won’t see the same revitalized market without actual games to drive the console. No such games have been announced.

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. His work has appeared in The AV Club, Salon, Edge, and many others. He is patiently waiting for Namco to finish Klonoa 3.

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Nintendo expands the Pokemon universe with NFC technology, and plenty of new toys for you to buy

For nearly twenty years, Nintendo has resisted making its home consoles the main hub for the Pokémon empire. Pokémon is for handhelds like the Game Boy and Nintendo DS, while the consoles receive Pokémon spin-offs like Pokémon Colisseum and Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64, Gamecube, and Wii. The billion-dollar franchise has done just fine in this regard, and with Pokémon X and Pokémon Y due out on Nintendo 3DS at the end of the year, it looks like Nintendo isn’t planning to break the pattern just yet. Pokémon Rumble U, the very first game in the series for Nintendo’s struggling Wii U, could flip the Pokémon business on its head though. It’s more than a Pokémon game; Pokémon Rumble U is Nintendo’s answer to Skylanders.

Japanese magazine CoroCoro (via Serebii) revealed details about the upcoming downloadable Wii U game. First announced in February, Pokémon Rumble U appeared to just be an HD sequel to the WiiWare game Pokémon Rumble released in 2009. This new report claims that it will be the first Nintendo Wii U game to let players buy little action figures of the characters to use in the game by scanning them in the Wii U GamePad, just like in Activision’s Skylanders and Disney’s upcoming Disney Infinity. The game itself will cost 1,800 yen, or just about $18, but the figurines will cost 200 yen, or about $2. It’s the sort of affordable pricing that made Pokémon trading cards one of the most successful toy lines of the late ‘90s.

Nintendo is only now starting to publicly discuss NFC technology’s role in the Wii U. Even as Skylanders’ popularity has risen over the past two years, Nintendo has roundly ignored the NFC functionality of its Wii U GamePad. The first sign that the Wii U pad would even include NFC tech was a leaked trailer for Rayman Legends that hit the web in April 2012 before the game was officially announced. After the game debuted properly at E3 2012 though, no NFC functionality was ever officially discussed by Ubisoft and no Nintendo games leveraged the tech. Nintendo now seems to be changing its tune on NFC.

On Mar. 5, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto spoke to Polygon about NFC’s role in the future of Wii U. “With NFC, that’s a feature that everyone that owns a Wii U can take advantage of,” said Miyamoto, “So that’s where we’re putting our priorities right now. We’re hoping that in the near future we’ll be able to show you something that will take advantage on Wii U and people will be able to enjoy that.” 

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. His work has appeared in The AV Club, Salon, Edge, and many others. He is patiently waiting for Namco to finish Klonoa 3.

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Google’s Andy Rubin steps aside to let Sundar Pichai take over Android

Google’s CEO Larry Page has announced a change in leadership in the Android team, where Andy Rubin – the current Senior Vice President of Mobile at the company – will take on a different and as yet undefined role in the company to let Sundar Pichai take over the position. The news came in an official blog post entitled simply, “Update from the CEO,” where Page talked about Google’s humble beginnings with Android, before noting it’s now supported by 60 manufacturers around the world and is used on more than 750 million devices.

Once the company trumpet had been sufficiently blown, Page writes that Android has, “Exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of,” and thanks to the strong team, Andy Rubin has, “Decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google. Andy, more moonshots please!” This is as far as Rubin’s new role is discussed.

As for Sundar Pichai, his existing role is Senior Vice President of Chrome, and it’s one he’ll continue while also taking on the Android leadership role. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is, and Page recognizes this; he continues, “Andy’s a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward.”

Both Rubin and Pichai have been silent on the subject so far, with neither taking to Google+ or Twitter to talk about their new endeavors. With Google I/O coming up in May, we’d expect to hear more from Pinchai, who could get to introduce Android 5.0, plus more about Rubin’s new role in the company.

Andy's fascination with mobile tech began in the 90s, at a time when SMS messages were considered cutting edge, but it would be a decade before he would put finger-to-keyboard as a technology writer. In the interim he wrote about travel, formulated strong opinions about films and owned a series of audacious cars.

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IBM’s Watson supercomputer has a new job, as a lawyer

After beating Jeopardy champions (but losing to a politician), helping out in the medical field, coming up with its own pastry recipe, going to college to brush up on its math and language skills, and fielding customer service calls, you might be wondering what’s next for IBM’s Watson supercomputer? To help the company gain new perspective on what else Watson can be used for, IBM brought the supercomputer to the University of Southern California where 100 students competed at the IBM Watson Academic Case Competition. 

The company kicked off the competition by demonstrating Watson’s abilities, after which the participants were divided into 24 teams and were given 48 hours to come up with a new use for the computer accompanied by a feasible business plan. Each team had at least one business student and one engineering student member, and since the teams were filled pretty quickly, a lot more students had to sign up on a waist list. If the competition’s grand winner ends up having its idea used, Watson’s next field is legal research, where it will be tasked to sift through old court records, digital evidence, and relevant articles.

The winning team believes Watson could be used not just to look for evidence for legal departments, no matter how obscure, but also to predict each piece of evidence’s probability of success. The team that won second place suggests using Watson for employee training “by crunching data pertaining to the employers’ HR needs, the employees’ career goals, and the range of training options available that can help both parties succeed.” Finally, the team that placed third in the competition proposes Watson be made to assist doctors in cases dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so it can help the doctors diagnose those who need help and even come up with treatment plans tailored for each patient. 

According to IBM, its collaboration with universities gives it a way to “tap into the minds of our next-generation of leaders,” as well as to ignite students’ interest in the STEM fields. It has collaborated with a number of other universities in the past, and even won the historical Jeopardy show in front of 10,000 students. There’s no word on whether Watson will actually be used for all three purposes mentioned above. But as IBM execs were there during the competition and were the ones who scrutinized the entries to decide on the winners, it’s not unlikely for the company to put Watson to work in those fields. 

Mariella loves working on both helpful and awe-inspiring science and technology stories. When she's not at her desk writing, you can find her in her room reading books, in front of the mirror trying to perfect her winged eyeliner, or crouched on the floor, giving her dog, Roco, a belly rub.

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The Oatmeal creator Matthew Inman goes from comics to crowdfunding

Matthew Inman mixed poop jokes into a talk about creativity, crowdfunding, and comics as the last keynote speaker at SXSW Interactive Week.

The creator The Oatmeal took the stage to recap his career and discuss how he became an accidental crowdfunding expert.

Inman summarized the trajectory of his career — he started as a Web designer and programmer who worked for other clients, until he took his knowledge and started his own site, which features his own comics. Inman explained how people doubted his career change: “You take any job and add Internet to it, and it sounds sad.” But he persisted. He criticized his earlier work as “click bait” but believes he’s made progress as a stand-up comedian who uses the Web as a platform.

It was an image-heavy keynote, since Inman inserted plenty of his trademark comics into his reflection on his creative progress. He described his creative process as “farming” and expressed skepticism about some of the buzzwords surrounding Web content. He hates the word “engagement” and thinks it’s a waste of time to hunt for Twitter followers or friend requests. He doesn’t plan more than three weeks in advance. He just wants to write good comics and put them online  (although he does admit to looking at analytics, which only makes sense – he also spent time doing online marketing.)

Inman got involved with crowdfunding on accident, after a feud with a website who took his comics and ran them unaccredited on a different site. Locked into a legal battle with the owner of FunnyJunk.com, Inman called on his fans to raise money for something more positive than a lawsuit during the skirmish. Overwhelming support poured in, and he raised far more than his target goal, giving away the proceeds to the National Wildlife Fund and the American Cancer Society.

After that success, Inman started raising money on Indiegogo to make a museum dedicated to the life and works of Nicola Tesla. He’d already written a popular comic about Tesla, and when a non-profit devoted to honoring Tesla asked him for help, he turned to his fans again.

Inman insists that the reason why the Tesla crowdfunding worked so well is because Tesla was a worthy subject. He gave some tips for people who want to crowdfund, noting that if too many people join the campaign, it will be difficult to deliver on promises. He said you might want to make it a shorter campaign, and keep your spiel short. He recommended infographics instead of long YouTube videos.

The fact that Inman runs an extremely popular website gives him an awesome platform for crowdfunding, though his speech made it clear that it is critical to have a worthy project.

So if you want to draw some wisdom from the talk, it’s basically: Make good Web content, and the rest will follow – and don’t back a campaign you don’t believe in wholeheartedly. 

Kate Knibbs is a writer, journalist and semi-nomadic pizza enthusiast. You can find her at @kateknibbs on Twitter.

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Pocket-sized breathalyzer plugs into your phone

It’s easy for those of us that live in an urban setting to forget the precarious predicament one can find themselves in after a night of imbibing. It doesn’t matter if we have one or 10; at the end of the night, we can just hop onto a train or in a cab and safely make our way home.

For those who need to get behind the wheel in order to get home, certain reservations must need to be taken. But mistakes happen, and we sometimes find ourselves ordering that one last drink that pushes us just over the edge.

In such a situation, it’s always best to err on the side of caution. Earlier today, Gizmodo reported about a new start-up is aiming to help people make the right choice. Breathometer is a pocket-sized device that plugs into your iPhone 5 or Android (as long as it’s running 4.0 and up) phone and, after blowing into it, it tells you — via an app — what your blood alcohol content, so you know if you’re good to go, or if you need to hitch a ride home with a friend.

If you have time to kill and prefer to not leave your car abandoned, the app keeps track of your history so that it can help you determine how much time will need to pass before you should be able to safely drive again. (Of course, you shouldn’t just assume it’s accurate, and should run another test before doing so.)

The company is still raising funds via Indiegogo; so far it has raised $9,400 of the $25,000 it needs to get off the ground. While the device isn’t set to ship until July, and retail for about $100, if you contribute to the raising of funds, just $20 will get you one. But, you’ll have to wait until January.

Spending a childhood engrossed in such technologically inspiring television shows like Voltron, Small Wonder, and Power Rangers, it's really no surprise that all things digital would continue to inspire Josh to the point that he would one day make a living writing about the things he loves. After graduating from SUNY Purchase in 2006 with a degree in journalism/anthropology, he spent years working as an editor for Travel + Leisure. Josh doesn't look forward to a Cylon takeover, but he does eagerly await the day he can become half cyborg.

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Square vs. Intuit GoPayment vs. Paypal Here: Which mobile credit card processor reigns supreme?

One of the fastest growing ways to accept payments is with mobile card processors, which offer a fast and easy way to use your phone to accept credit and debit cards while doing business. The affordable rates, free readers, and prevalence of smartphones have all made this the latest craze among small business folk. Though Square started it all, now PayPal and Intuit offer their own flavors of payment processing. When it comes to these three popular readers, which one is right for you?

This review will be reviewing three popular payment processing options: The Square Reader with Square Register software; The PayPal Here Reader with PayPal Here software; and the Intuit GoPayment Reader with Intuit GoPayment software.

Square: Square got started back in 2010 out of the inspiration of Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, whose friend was unable to complete a large transaction because he couldn’t take credit cards in person. From there, he worked with a friend to make a prototype of the iconic little card reader, which has been the inspiration for readers like the PayPal Here and Intuit GoPayment. The Square is a tiny little square that you can swipe your credit card through, and it connects through the headphone jack on your device.

PayPal and Intuit: The PayPal Here reader and Intuit GoPayment readers both arrived much more recently, but they bring along not just an easy to use card reader, but the backbone of two major financial firms. PayPal is already known internationally for being the foundation of online payment processing, and it hopes to bring along this network to users of its PayPal Here reader, too. Intuit, known for its popular products like QuickBooks and TurboTax, is also bringing along a long history of financial services support. Both companies released their readers in the last year or so, and are only now beginning to spread the word about them. The PayPal Here reader is a small blue triangle that sits atop your device on a slight angle, while the Intuit GoPayment is a larger pill-shaped reader, with a silicone cover on the back that lets it sit evenly across the top of your device.

But enough about these readers and how the companies that make them; what sets them apart from one another?

Intuit: Intuit’s GoPayment reader is pretty basic, but the build quality is probably the best among all three of the readers. With a solid swipe assembly that gives that really sweet feeling when you bring your card across it, Intuit’s GoPayment reader is stylish looking and very durable in design. The silicon cover on the bottom of the reader does seem a little unnecessary though, and the software Intuit throws in with it is pretty simple in nature. To make matters worse, Intuit released two versions of the software, phone and tablet edition, possibly confusing users who don’t know which version to download. Either way, the GoPayment reader by far has better build quality even if its software is less than stellar.

Square: Square is pretty nifty for two reasons. For one, it works well with devices that have cases on due to its thinness. Second, it detects the card as you swipe it whether or not you’re ready to start payment. Much like the card reader at most major retailers, this feature is a somewhat trivial, though still nifty feature preventing the dreaded re-swipe. Beyond this though, Square’s Register software is pretty simple and straightforward.

PayPal: PayPal gets credit for stuffing the most features into its software, even though individual device compatibility is very finicky. The EVO 4G LTE we used is actually 100 percent compatible with the software based on our testing, but PayPal doesn’t yet offer it on the Play Store for users. PayPal got me a copy of the app regardless, and is “regularly” adding new compatible devices, but we have no explanation why it’s so picky with individual devices. Either way, you get a lot of powerful features behind the software, including invoice options, easy access to Paypal account information, and even the ability to add checks right into your PayPal account for free. PayPal Here offers an impressive software back-end, even if its very picky with devices. The reader PayPal gives is also the most plastic-y and doesn’t seat very nicely on top of the devices, which is a little disappointing.

When it comes to speed, our hats are off to PayPal, which realized that while there is a necessity to get your cash into your bank account, there is also a desire to be able to use money instantly. All three payment processing apps offer access to your bank account in a very typical three business days or so, but only PayPal lets you use the cash in a matter of seconds. All money collected with your PayPal Here reader will go straight to your PayPal account, where you can instantly use it for purchases online or with a free debit card it will send you. All the other readers simply offer your money accessible straight from your bank account in anywhere form 1 to 3 business days, which isn’t too long.

When it comes to cost, payment processors are less about the upfront cost, but instead the fees you’ll pay while swiping your customers. As a result, most readers are free – either after a rebate or through filling out a form – and instead make their money the payment gateways you use with the readers. When it comes to these three readers, there are three very distinctive pricing options between them.

Square: With Square, you can pay either 2.75 percent on all sales, or you can pay $275 a month for 0 percent as long as the item price doesn’t exceed $400. Square’s pricing gets a little confusing with the flat-rate option, but unless you’re selling more than $10,000 worth of stuff with credit cards in a month, then it may not be worth worrying about anyway. Either way, Square offers a simple and affordable option of swiping for the small scale or large scale operation alike.

PayPal: PayPal offers a very straightforward pricing plan: 2.7 percent on everything, no matter your volume or item prices. PayPal technically argues the fee is only 1.7 percent, but that’s only if you use the money with its free debit card with 1 percent cash back. While this is its way of getting to 1.7 percent, it’s only true in very specific spending circumstances, and doesn’t offer much flexibility. If simplicity isn’t what you had in mind, then PayPal takes the cake in pricing.

Intuit: Intuit’s GoPayment offers two main pricing structures n a somewhat similar way to Square. The GoPayment will charge 2.75 percent on all swipes, or you can opt-in for a monthly plan of just $13 a month, which drops the swipe rate down to 1.75 percent. For the monthly payment to pay off, you’d need to be selling more than $1500 a month or so in stuff. $1500 isn’t much to someone with a serious small business, but it’s not meant for the once-in-a-while user. As a result GoPayment has versatility for the small business user, as well as a fair starting rate.

As you can see, what makes each one cheaper is not really the pricing itself, but instead the amount that you gross in sales each month. If you’re planning to use them for little purchases here or there, then all three will cost just about the same. If you’re racking up moire than $1500 or so, then GoPayment will be the cheapest. If you’re making more than $10,000 a month though, Square has the most economical option. When it comes to the greenbacks though, all three are good for once-in-a-while users.

One important (and final) aspect we’ll look at is the overall amount of service you get with your card reader. These readers, designed to be simple in design and easy to use, also offer limited support in most cases. However, each of the three companies offer different levels of support.

Square: With Square, there actually is no telephone support offered with the device, meaning one-on-one and fast support can be hard to find when you need it most. Instead, Square offers a Twitter account you can request help through, as well as a knowledge base and a expedited email service. While this is certainly satisfactory access, and we love it when companies head to Twitter to talk with customers, it doesn’t replace the fast and personal experience phone support offers.

PayPal and Intuit: Both PayPal and Intuit, already with a big financial background, offer up both phone and email support, as well as a knowledgebase. Intuit offers GoPayment support separate from other Intuit products, while PayPal tries its best to integrate PayPal Here into the rest of the services the company offers, which offers a very seamless experience from your PayPal account to your PayPal Here reader. As a result, PayPal and Intuit are both better off for those who want a lot of hand holding and easy access to support for their readers.

Figuring out which card reader is “right” for you depends on all of the features already mentioned so far. Do you need money the moment you swipe? Do you want a discount for high-volume selling? Do you want to scan checks? Does build quality matters? These questions are just a few of the many you may ask yourself when figuring out which reader to grab, but in the end they all are solid choices for the businessperson, whether they be for once-in-a-while purchases or serious sales volume. The extra features and quick access to your cash makes PayPal Here outweigh Intuit’s GoPayment to us, but GoPayment has a solid pricing structure, too. Square’s pricing structure is a little irrelevant, and its software is pretty simplistic, but you can’t deny the iconic and easy access it offers. With all these thoughts in mind, go out and grab whichever one you feel is best for you. If you don’t like it, an alternative reader is just a simple form or rebate away! Personally, we highly recommend the PayPal Here’s versatility in software, as well as the Intuit GoPayment’s price structure and build quality. Good luck finding the right one for you!

Joshua Sherman is a contributor for Digital Trends who writes about all things mobile from Apple to Zynga. Josh pulls his knowledge from years of experience using smartphones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and has had his content featured on other top sites like MakeUseOf. Josh is a student at Vassar College.

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Classic comeback? Could Jaguar Design Director’s one-off MKII recreation signal something bigger?

News that Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum will design a special one-off of the Jaguar MKII makes you wonder what else he might have up his sleeve.

The iconic MKII, once used in the ‘60s as police vehicles to chase bank robbers, is considered one of the most timeless British car designs from the past 50 years and is a much sought-after collectors piece.

 “This is the first classic Jaguar I have ever owned,” Callum said in a statement. “I have greatly admired the Jaguar MKII since I was a boy. Now I have the chance to ‘build’ one to my exact design specifications.”

To design the MKII, Callum is teaming up with Classic Motor Cars (CMC), of Bridgnorth, England, which just announced that it will start supplying classic Jaguars to Stratstone, Europe’s largest independent Jaguar.

In addition to some different styling cues, the MKII that Callum and Classic Motor Cars will build will also include some engineering modifications.

Even as a one-off, it’ll be interesting to see if any of design cues on Callum’s MKII will wind up influencing any future Jaguars.

Callum, who is credited with helping to spearhead the rebirth of the marquee with cars like the XJ, speaks a lot about how cars of Jaguar’s heyday have influenced his design approach to current models.

However, maybe it’ll be Callum’s design work with some of the more recent Jaguars that will influence his recreation of the MKII with CMC with a limited-edition line of classic new Jaguars to follow.  

Either way, it’ll be an interesting project to follow and one that’ll likely wind up being one of the most coveted Jaguars to date.  

Marcus Amick has been writing about the world of cars for more than ten years and has covered everything from new automobiles to celebrity wheels. The longtime Detroiter, who now splits his time between Los Angeles and the “Motor City,” has penned works for a number of national publications including Automotive News, Rides magazine and Automobile magazine. Amick also works as a freelance consultant providing insight on automotive and related lifestyle trends.

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Return of The One: BMW says ‘yes’ to 1 Series M Coupe successor

The BMW M cars are some of the most ferociously powerful and technologically advanced performance vehicles on the road today, but many fans believe the best M car in recent memory isn’t in production anymore.

The 1 Series M Coupe was a simpler and more fun approach to fast driving than the M3, M5, or M6, which why it’s so sorely missed. Thankfully, BMW is planning a successor.

 In an interview with BMW Blog, BMW M CEO Dr. Friedrich Nitschke said the first 1M was so successful that a second generation is a sure thing.

“At the moment, we are thinking of what we can do with an entry-level car for the M brand,” Nitschke said. “We haven’t made a decision yet, but the 1 M Coupe was so successful, that in my opinion, I am absolutely sure we will build a successor.”

The original 1M debuted in 2011 as a 2012 model, and was meant to evoke the original E30 M3. With its sawed-off shotgun proportions, it eschewed most of the tech that has made modern M cars fast and efficient, but also less soulful.

The 1M was a 1 Series coupe stuffed with a 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged inline-six and the rear differential, brakes, suspension, wheels, and tires of an M3. The only available transmission was a six-speed manual.

The six produced 335 horsepower 370 pound-feet of torque, propelling it to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, and on to an electronically limited top speed of 167 mph.

The numbers themselves weren’t the real story though, it was how the 1M achieved them. With less electronic interference, the driver was more connected to the road. That meant the 1M was also less refined than other performance cars, but its entertaining character made up for that.

BMW only made a small batch of 1Ms, because it had to retool its plants for the second generation 1 Series, which has already gone on sale in Europe.

BMW currently offers an M135i based on the new car, but it’s more of an options package than a fully realized performance car.

It looks like BMW is getting ready to finish the job it started with the M135i, although the company hasn’t set a timetable. Since Americans haven’t even gotten the new, second generation 1 Series, it could be awhile. However, if the new car is anything like the first 1 Series M Coupe, it should be worth the wait.

Stephen Edelstein graduated from Clark University in 2011 with an M.A. in American History. He was the Editor in Chief of Clark's student newspaper, The Scarlet. Stephen enjoys all things historical, science-fictional, and transportation-related.

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Twitter expected to launch music discovery app, Twitter Music

Rumor has it that Twitter has dipped its feet in the pool of music discovery with their recent acquisition of We Are Hunted, one of our favorite Spotify apps. According to CNET, the company that made micro-blogging a household name intends to use We Are Hunted’s technology to create a brand-new standalone music app under the name Twitter Music, and plans to release a version for iOS devices as early as the end of this month.

Neither Twitter nor We Are Hunted has confirmed CNET’s report. There, are, however, some clues to consider that may confirm the story.

 

First, a very timely “not available at the moment” message plastered on the We Are Hunted official website. And the founders page that used to be on their website is no longer available.

Test#NowPlaying @whoisgambles – Safe Side ? soundcloud.com/whoisgambles/g…

— Stephen Phillips (@huntedguy) February 2, 2013

Second, the official We Are Hunted twitter page has not been updated in a while.  Instead we have this tweet (above) to go on, marked “Test,” posted by Stephen Phillips, We Are Hunted co-founder. This alone is nearly enough to prove CNET’s claim that SoundCloud will be the music streaming service of choice linked to Twitter Music.

Prior to said acquisition, We Are Hunted was a music aggregation tool designed to scour pages on the Internet for the most popular songs and present it in a pretty neat package, complete with music streaming, playlist creation and content sharing capabilities. Twitter reportedly plans to utilize We Are Hunted’s unique searching technology with an app that recommends music based on the artists you follow, streams songs that are #NowPlaying, and groups popular and emerging musicians for easier discovery. Users apparently don’t need a Twitter account to use the app once it is released, which can pave the way to new Twitter sign-ups.

The music discovery industry is currently dominated by the likes of Pandora and Spotify, each with millions of active users. Facebook just recently got in the game themselves with a planned revamp of their music feed, just as there’s also a rumor that Google plans to provide their own music streaming service as well. Only time will tell if Twitter has enough prowess to get its users to consider their standalone music app necessary.

When she's not busy watching movies and TV shows or traveling to new places, Jam is probably on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Instagram. It's only fitting that she's a contributor for Social Media and Web on Digital Trends. Her other interests include board games, good food, and Jason Mraz. In fact, her biggest contribution to social media so far is starting MrazWomen, a group of gals that are gaga for his music. You can get to know her more through Twitter (@MrazGal), Instagram (@thatgaljam), or thatgaljam.com, which she's trying to update more.

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Facebook aims for Google with Entity Graph real-world mapping

You’ve probably heard of Facebook’s new feature, Graph Search. Allowing you to search for combinations of people, places, and things through Facebook, Graph Search grabs headlines because it’s Facebook’s real foray into the search engine world. It’s a sexy topic because it focuses on people – you’re part of the search results – which can embarrass you, get you in trouble, or get you engaged, depending on how it’s used and how your profile looks. But it’s not the only thing cooking for Facebook’s search team – the social media giant is also cobbling together another search tool it calls the Entity Graph.

The Entity Graph has an even wider scope than Graph Search. It’s kind of a combination of Google Search and Wikipedia – a largely user-generated, searchable trove of encyclopedic knowledge. While Graph Search hones in on people and their interests on Facebook, Entity Graph sketches out how everything relates to each other. It’s more pragmatic, but it’s just as essential to Facebook’s plans to dominate the search game. 

The MIT Technology Review took a closer look at this fledgling catalog, talking to Facebook product manager Mitu Singh about the project’s goals. As Singh explained to journalist Tom Simonite, “We’re trying to map what the real world looks like onto Facebook so you can run really expressive and powerful queries.” 

So instead of using language alone, Entity Graph takes advantage of context to create a smarter search, more grounded in how people actually relate to things. 

Facebook is encouraging users to contribute the the Entity Graph in subtle ways. It asks them to double-check that they’ve entered a location correctly, or nudges them to tag duplicated content. It asks locals to fill in the blanks about their neighborhood haunts, and enthusiasts to bulk up details about their favorite hobbies, entertainment, or sports. Lots of information comes from fan pages, while other data gets culled from outside sources. 

If the Entity Graph works correctly, Facebook’s search will work better – much better. When you look for a McDonald’s near your work or school, data collected from the Internet and from Facebook users will provide more accurate answers. Instead of leaving Facebook to look up something like museum hours or the tastiest ice cream in your city, if Entity Graph works, you can just use Facebook as your search engine. 

If you’re fed up with Google, this will definitely provide an interesting alternative, though there’s no saying whether it will be better or worse. Google is working on a program called Knowledge Graph with similarities to Entity Graph, so both companies are striving to connect digital search to the real world and real-world language more closely. 

Of course. Facebook has been on a mission to monetize, and there’s no way it would undertake such a massive endeavor without some sort of angle that will keep investors and ad partners happy. Yes, Entity Graph may make the user experience better, but it could also lead to additional opportunities for targeted ads and marketing.

Even though the search is in its infancy, PR agencies are already advising brands to optimize their social media presence to fit better with the graph. And since the Entity Graph only works if people voluntarily input information, it cajoles Facebook users to more frequently pinpoint their whereabouts and preferences. And more personalized information means more opportunities to fine-tune ads. 

The Entity Graph is an interesting endeavor, but Facebook’s decision to follow Wikipedia’s user-generated content model for its information may be complicated if people feel like their information is used to boost ads instead of improve the search. And by “complicated,” we mean everyone will throw a temper tantrum.

Kate Knibbs is a writer, journalist and semi-nomadic pizza enthusiast. You can find her at @kateknibbs on Twitter.

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EV charging infrastructure slowly growing in New York with 80 more stations on the way

Electric vehicle charging station installer, ChargePoint, has announced plans to install 80 new EV quick chargers throughout New York City.

Spurred on by a $1-million investment from The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), ChargePoint will start with installations on the Solaire apartment building in Manhattan’s Battery Park. Standing as the first structure to receive a Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) gold certification in 2003, the building is the perfect place for the new EV chargers.

“Upgrading the city’s EV infrastructure to new, universal ChargePoint chargers is imperative to the future success of a sustainable society,” ChargePoint boasted in a recent press release by way of Autoblog Green.

The ChargePoint 80 is just a small step along the goals set by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Over the next seven years, Mayor Bloomberg plans to transform some 10,000 (roughly 20 percent) of New York City’s parking spaces over to EV charge units.

We’re glad to see such an ambitious goal set by Bloomberg. While the ChargePoint 80 falls far short of the 10,000 chargers needed by 2020, it’s a good start. If EVs are going to be a viable alternative to fossil fuel-burning cars – and we hope they will – they’ll need places to charge up.

Nick Jaynes developed a passion for writing about cars working his way through Journalism School as a Volvo mechanic. When he's not writing, Nick can be seen hosting the popular automotive web-show DownForce Motoring. In his free-time, Nick collects vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles.

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Square-Enix closes out the PS3 in style with Sony exclusive, ‘Drakengard 3′

Never call Square-Enix predictable. In the years since Final Fantasy XIV bombed so hard that it caused the company to lose $150 million, the company has streamlined its game business. Big budget games have largely been left to its subsidiary Eidos (Tomb Raider, Hitman: Absolution, Deus Ex: Human Revolution), while Square’s internal studios in Japan have focused on mobile and social games bearing the Final Fantasy name. With the exception of Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel, Square has only released a single Japanese-made game in the past four years. Yet here’s Drakengard 3, a sequel to a little known series of Square-Enix published action RPGs on the PlayStation 2. What’s more, it’s a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

Announced this week in Japan’s Famitsu magazine, Drakengard 3 (or Drag-on Dragoon 3 as it’s called in Japan) will be out this year for PlayStation 3. Like its predecessors on PlayStation 2, Drakengard 3 will be an action role-playing game, with players engaging in large-scale melee fights on the ground as well as taking to the air on a dragon and fighting in the sky.

Based on that description, the games sound pretty typical. The original Drakengard games were deeply strange, though. Developed by the now defunct independent studio Cavia on behalf of Square, the game’s were unusually macabre, dealing in medieval drama with enough torrid sex and violence to make it seem like a David Lynch-directed version of Game of Thrones. Drakengard 3 sounds peculiar in its own right, starring a one-armed girl with a flower growing out of her right eye in a world where humans are at war with a race who performs magic through singing.

The original developer Cavia actually disbanded after they completed work on Nier for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010 – the aforementioned single Japanese game published by Square for consoles since 2009 besides Final Fantasy XIII. Drakengard 3 will be developed largely by Access Games, the same team behind cult horror classic Deadly Premonition. The key creators from Cavia, including director Taro Yoko, composer Keiichi Okabe, character designer Kimihiko Fujisaka, and producer Takamasa Shiba are spearheading the game.

Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. His work has appeared in The AV Club, Salon, Edge, and many others. He is patiently waiting for Namco to finish Klonoa 3.

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New lightweight Audi A5 planned for 2016

The Audi A5 has had a pretty good run.

First launched in 2007, the A5 has undergone few changes in its six-year run. With three more years still on its life, Audi plans to squeeze as many sales from the A5 as it can muster.

In late 2016, Audi will roll out the latest iteration of its mid-size two-door luxury coupe. This time Audi is aiming for lighter weight, with the car losing more than 220 pounds, according to Automobile. With an optional “Ultra” pack, more weight will be trimmed with lightweight bits under the hood like a compact A/C compressor and alternator. Additionally, Audi will bolt on lightweight wheels with hollow spokes and some aluminum body panels.

As for tech, Audi will add a new MMI infotainment system controlled by a touch-pad.

Under the hood, the A5 gets a bit more exciting with four engines options along with S5 and RS5 variants planned.

Under the hood, buyers will find two 2.0-liter four-cylinder TFSI gasoline engines, one producing 175 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque and the other producing 222 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque.

From there, customers can step up to a 2.0-liter TDI diesel engine producing 197 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. At the top of the regular A5 range will be a 3.0-liter TDI diesel engine pumping out 272 horsepower and a massive 442 pound-feet of torque.

Automobile is also reporting that Audi could place its plug-in hybrid e-tron technology inside the A5, as it plans to do for the 2014 A4. While performance would drop a bit, the e-tron would allow for a 30-mile electric only range. Whether that drivetrain would come to the U.S., however, is unclear. We asked an Audi representative for more information on the A5, but we were told that Audi “cannot comment on future product or speculation.”

We love the A5 and its high-performance S5 and RS5 variants. We can’t wait for a bit more modern offerings, though. As BMW pushes forward the 4 Series and Mercedes the C-Class, we anticipate a three-way brawl for German luxury coupe supremacy very soon.

Nick Jaynes developed a passion for writing about cars working his way through Journalism School as a Volvo mechanic. When he's not writing, Nick can be seen hosting the popular automotive web-show DownForce Motoring. In his free-time, Nick collects vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles.

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Notorious Facebook hook up app invades SXSW to the chagrin of … SXSW

If you thought forking up a couple thousand bucks to attend SXSW was just about the music, tech demos, movies, free food and booze, you are mistaken. Plenty of festival goers have an ulterior motive here in Austin: to get busy. Bang With Friends made rounds last month when it encouraged Facebook users to select friends they’re secretly wanting to hook up with and match make – and now the developers have created a spinoff in the form of Bang With SXSW.

Unlike the original Bang With Friends, the SXSW edition allows festival goers attending the event to see other users who’ve registered for the special edition app – even if they are not Facebook friends. The app will also display names and profile photos to help those looking to get laid find their potential partner for the night. Bang With Friends co-founder anonymously going by the name C says approximately 3,560 SXSW’ers have signed up, leaving plenty of opportunities to find someone drunk enough for a one night stand.

Still, SXSW organizers weren’t impressed. They sent Bang With SXSW a cease and desist letter, citing the app’s promotional posters as too lewd and controversial, and the site’s original domain of sxsw.bangwithfriends.com as an unapproved use of the festival’s name. The SXSW team worked fast to remove the “inappropriate” posters, but so did BWF developers. Not long after they received warning from SXSW, the site reappeared at austin13.bangwithfriends.com. ”We didn’t feel they had a strong case, but wanted to make a gesture of good will so we set it up at the new URL,” C tells us.”We just want to give the people what they want!”

The new domain also adds a small disclaimer, noting that ”Bang With Friends is in no way condoned or affiliated with SXSW – in fact, it turns out they are not big fans of bangin.” Whoops.

If you’re in town and are interested in the service, Bang With SXSW has a friendly reminder to practice safe sex. The team has been handing out branded condoms to encourage a healthy sex life, but you might want to check out the Qpid app that can verify a person’s sexually transmitted disease status, just to be safe.

C said that as of today, Bang With SXSW has successfully created 221 hook ups, with numbers expecting to rise as the music portion of the festival continues and more drunk hipsters flood town. Who says geek spring break can’t get raunchy?

An avid gadgets and Internet culture enthusiast, Natt Garun spends her days bringing you the funniest, coolest, and strangest news in tech to make the information overload a bit more digestible. She joined Digital Trends as staff writer after spending five months in Hong Kong and formerly working as an assistant travel writer. Her published works can also be found on Business Insider and Gizmodo. Natt hails from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a degree in magazine journalism. E-mail her at ngarun@digitaltrends.com or tweet her @nattgarun.

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Blu announces three new unlocked phones for the U.S.

We’ve all heard of Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Blackberry, and a handful of other mobile manufacturers. But it’s not likely that many of us have ever heard of Blu Products, the self-proclaimed fastest growing mobile phone manufacturer. But today, according to the folks at PR Newswire, the company announced their newest line of phones: Blu Life Series.

The new series consists of three different models, the Life Play, Life View, and Life One. Each are powered by a MediaTek MT6589 1.2GHz Quad-Core chipset, will come equipped with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, and connect at 4G speeds.

The Blu Life One boasts a 5-inch high definition Gorilla Glass screen, 16GB of internal memory, 1GB RAM, a microSD card slot that can handle up to 32GB cards, a 5-megapixel front camera, and a 13-megapixel rear camera.The Blu Life View features a bigger 5.7-inch HD scratch-resistant screen, 16GB of internal memory, 1GB RAM, a microSD card slot that can handle up to 32GB cards, a 5-megapixel front camera, and a 12-megapixel rear camera.The Blu Life Play is the most compact model, sporting a 4.7-inch HD screen, 4GB of internal memory, 1GB RAM, a microSD card slot that can handle up to 32 GB cards, a 2-megapixel front camera, and an 8-megapixel rear camera.

As far as we can tell, the three phones, which will start shipping the last week of April, will only be available to the U.S market, and each of them will be unlocked, meaning you’ll be able to hook them up to the network of your choice. The One and View will retail for $300, while the Play will sell for just $230. They’ll be made available through several U.S. online retailers; Amazon is the only that we’ve been able to confirm so far.

Spending a childhood engrossed in such technologically inspiring television shows like Voltron, Small Wonder, and Power Rangers, it's really no surprise that all things digital would continue to inspire Josh to the point that he would one day make a living writing about the things he loves. After graduating from SUNY Purchase in 2006 with a degree in journalism/anthropology, he spent years working as an editor for Travel + Leisure. Josh doesn't look forward to a Cylon takeover, but he does eagerly await the day he can become half cyborg.

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‘Veronica Mars’ appears on Kickstarter in hopes of a second chance, then promptly decimates records

 The TV show Veronica Mars may soon return as a feature film thanks to a new Kickstarter project started by the series’ creator, Rob Thomas.

In the words of thousands of fans around the world right now, “squee.” Feel free to extend that into a shrill yell. Be sure to up the octaves.

When there is a TV show that resonates with a person, a show that just seems to them to be head-and-shoulders above the general swamp of mediocre programming that dominates the airwaves, those fans aren’t quick to simply let it go when that show is cancelled before its time. It’s sort of like holding a grudge, but in a happier way, and often with Cosplay. 

Fans don’t react well when that happens, but in the best cases they mobilize. The original Star Trek was cancelled after just three seasons, but fan support was so strong that it spawned a film which in turn spawned an empire. When the CBS drama Jericho was cancelled, fans mailed in over 20 tons of peanuts to the CBS offices in support of the show. Explaining why they sent peanuts would take longer than it was worth, but the campaign worked, and CBS commissioned an 8 episode second season. The show was again cancelled after that, but the fan campaign alone kept Jericho going despite relatively low ratings. And of course Joss Whedon’s Firefly managed to squeeze out the movie Serentiy after the show’s cancellation after just 14 episodes. A decade later the show still draws huge crowds at ComicCon.

Hell hath no fury like the fan of a show cancelled too early, and to that list of programs that saw a premature death but retains passionate fans, you can firmly add Veronica Mars.

The detective noir drama starring Kristen Bell as a high school – and then college age – sleuth debuted on UPN in 2004 and lasted just three seasons. For years afterwards, both Thomas and Bell discussed the possibilities of a feature film, but despite Bell’s growing popularity and a determined fanbase, the relatively poor DVD sales scared away most potential Hollywood backers.

Earlier today, Thomas began a Kickstarter campaign to raise $2 million by April 12 to fund the film independently. Not only does it look like Thomas will easily reach that mark in less than 12 hours, it appears that the Veronica Mars movie project will smash that initial goal. The project hit $1 million in just over 4 hours and shows no signs of slowing.

Before today, the most successful Film & Video project to appear on Kickstarter was Video Game High School: Season Two, which hit its goal of $636,010, then went on to take in over $800K total. Not only has the Veronica Mars Kickstarter project surpassed that, it did so in a matter of hours.

The top earning Kickstarter project to date is the Pebble: E-paper watch, which received nearly $10.3 million thanks to 69,000 backers. At this rate, there is a good chance that the Veronica Mars project will soon pass that total. But even if it misses that lofty height, the project seems certain to reach its funding goal. Assuming it does, the project will begin filming this summer, with a projected release date of February 2013. Warner Bros. still owns the rights to the property, but according to Thomas, “Kristen and I met with the Warner Bros. brass, and they agreed to allow us to take this shot. They were extremely cool about it, as a matter of fact. Their reaction was, if you can show there’s enough fan interest to warrant a movie, we’re on board.”

Rejoice, fans of cancelled TV series! Assuming the Veronica Mars project reaches its goal, and assuming those involved can release a successful film (which is anything but a given), it could offer new hope to fans of cancelled TV shows everywhere. 

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering local news, travel features, and politics. He has also been a frequent guest on podcasts, radio programs, and TV spots. Ryan is a diehard gamer and follower of the gaming industry, an avid filmgoer, and a passionate supporter of his alma mater, the University of Kansas. Find Ryan online at: Facebook: www.Facebook.com/iridiumsix Twitter: @iridiumsix XBL: Iridium Six PSN: IridiumSix

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Intel releases ‘optimized’ Android 4.2 release, hinting it will dual-boot with Windows 8

Intel has been missing out on the Android party ever since ARM came and stole Google’s heart with its power-efficient and affordable processors, but the major microprocessor manufacturer is already hard at work trying to woo Android. Intel has just released a pre-alpha build of an “Intel-Optimized” edition of Android, meaning that the Operating System may very well come in future PCs dual-booting alongside Windows.

The idea of dual-booting Windows and Android is old news, but doing it with a standard Intel x86 processor has yet to be accomplished. While devices like the ASUS Transformer AIO allow you to run both, they actually utilize two different processors, an Intel and an ARM processor, to do it. This new accomplishment by Intel is putting the notion of native dual-booting Windows and Android close to reality.

Android was built from the ground up in ARM architecture, but Intel’s new pre-alpha is suggesting the company is investing time and money into porting it for x86 processors – namely Intel ones. The company has been working on contributing x86-based Android components for years now, but this most recent development is for Android’s latest version, Jelly Bean 4.2.2, and means Intel is keeping up with the updates to perhaps someday bring a fully fledged port to its x86-based tablets and PCs – likely along with its new Intel Atom Clover Trail series of low-power processors. This means we may be only a year or less away from having PCs that dual-boot Windows and Android.

While Intel deserves credit for such hard work, it’s also worth noting they are far from the first to try this. The Android x86 project is itself a complete port of Android Jelly Bean and has been hard at working bringing Android to netbooks since 2011. Intel has more money and more manpower than this independent group of developers, and has actually contributed to Android x86 through its open source releases, but what matters more here is that Android is getting closer than ever to being an option on a PC just like Windows, bringing with it a large community of application developers and other projects.

Unfortunately, there is a disadvantage to running Android in an x86 architecture: all applications made for ARM-based Android devices will not work unless they are re-compiled for the x86 architecture or are emulated. This means that every game, program or utility on Android has to be rebuilt for x86 architecture in order to work, and while much more efficient than emulation, will mean that most applications will not work out of the box for Intel-based Android devices. In the end though, if enough people are interested in the power of the Atom, then there will certainly be plenty of  applications by the time Intel releases its first Android-Windows tablet, perhaps offering one of the most versatile tablets on the market.

Joshua Sherman is a contributor for Digital Trends who writes about all things mobile from Apple to Zynga. Josh pulls his knowledge from years of experience using smartphones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and has had his content featured on other top sites like MakeUseOf. Josh is a student at Vassar College.

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TiVo Mini DVR Extender is here toting some baggage in the form of fine print

The folks at TiVo have been pumping the Mini DVR extender for long enough that we were beginning to wonder if folks were ever going to  get their hands on it. The good news is that the wait is over as TiVo has announced the Mini is now available for purchase, but before you rush out and buy one, there are a few details you should be aware of.

The $100 Mini is designed to work with TiVo’s Premiere 4-tuner DVRs to provide streaming live and recorded TV to a second television.  Should you own a standard Premiere with 2-tuners or a Premiere XL, you are out of luck. The TiVo Mini DVR extender only works with the 4-tuner Premiere 4 ($250 plus service) and the Premiere 4XL ($400 plus service).

The new Mini has a faster processor than the current-generation Premiere models; which makes us wonder if the next generation of DVRs might be just around the corner. From a business perspective, it is possible that TiVo left 2-tuner users out in the proverbial cold to…ahem…encourage them to upgrade to the more expensive models currently available or forthcoming. Regardless, the early word is that the Mini streams recorded content faster than any TiVo box so far, but suffers from some lag when channel surfing live TV.

The other issue with the Mini is that it doesn’t support WiFi,  nor does it include component or composite A/V cables (they are available, but as a separate purchase). As expected, HDMI support is supplied for that brand new HDTV you suffered in the cold for on Black Friday. The Mini must be connected via Ethernet or MoCA (no, not the Starbuck’s drink but Ethernet via a coaxial cable), and if your existing Premiere 4 or 4XL can’t reach your router, you’ll require a MoCA network adapter to make it all possible.

Another strange omission from the Mini is support for Netflix. Don’t go crazy trying to look for it in the menu because it doesn’t exist yet. Premiere 4 and 4XL users should also be aware that the Mini turns the 4-tuner DVRs into 3-tuner DVRs, limiting how much content you can record at the same time; which means that users who planned on adding three Mini DVR extenders might want to rethink that strategy unless they rarely record more than one show at a time. TiVo has hinted at dynamic tuner allocation in the past, but it doesn’t appear to be available yet. 

The TiVo Mini DVR extender should be available at your local Best Buy or online.

Ian has been a full-time A/V journalist since 1999, covering the world of high-end audio, video, music, and film for a number of leading publications. Ian was introduced to the A/V world at an early age when he attached a magnet to his parent's Sony Trinitron television, and has remained insatiably curious ever since. A professional foodie, father of 2.6 children, film fanatic, and amateur hockey player, Ian enjoys early morning runs along the Jersey Shore and surfing with his kids. Follow him on Twitter @filmfresser or email him at filmfresser@gmail.com

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iPads invade an Idaho elementary school, replace all textbooks

Tablets sure are continuing to invade classrooms, with the iPad looking more and more like the favorite among educational institutions. A U.K. school has previously eliminated the need for pen and paper by supplying students with iPads, and a Maine school spent $200,000 in 2011 to buy iPads for its kindergarteners. Idaho’s Paul Elementary School recently joined their ranks when iSchool Campus launched a pilot program that supplied Apple’s tablets to its students. 

Students and teachers at Paul Elementary have been using iPads provided by the iSchool program, which has also provided the school iMacs to be used inside the classroom, for the past two and a half months. Johnson believes that iPads have the potential to replace textbooks in the long run and has revealed that the school has saved on 20,000 paper copies (used for worksheets and note-taking, among other things) since the program was launched. 

In the promotional video below, you can watch the school’s educators talk about how much of an impact the iPads have made. “With this deployment, with technology, students are excited about learning,” says school principal, Colleen Johnson. “They’re not sitting in the classroom where students are raising their hand and answering one at a time – they are actively participating in every single part of the lesson. They’re excited, they like it, and that’s reaffirming for the teacher and the student.” 

While the teachers and the school’s principal are obviously impressed with the changes brought about by the tablets, we want to know what you think. Do you think putting tablets in classrooms is beneficial to your children’s learning, or would you rather they stick to pen and paper so they don’t become tech-depending at such an early age?

Mariella loves working on both helpful and awe-inspiring science and technology stories. When she's not at her desk writing, you can find her in her room reading books, in front of the mirror trying to perfect her winged eyeliner, or crouched on the floor, giving her dog, Roco, a belly rub.

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