After arriving at the first Senate hearing by private jet, GM's Rick Wagoner is looking to feign innovation and a commitment to frugality by driving a Chevy Volt prototype to Washington and past the camera crews awaiting his arrival. The obvious stunt meant to reverse public opinion in GM's bid for bailout cash will put Wagoner behind the wheel of the Volt prototype for just a fraction of the 355 mile journey. Good thing too, because without the infrastructure required to support electric vehicles, Wagoner's Volt would only last about 40 miles on battery before the fuel burning engine kicked in to maintain enough charge to drive the powertrain. Instead, the GM exec will begin his journey from Detroit in a hybrid Malibu capable of just 24/32 MPG city/highway. We just hope that the Saturns and dilapidated Chevettes he sees abandoned along America's rust-belt provides the man with ample reminder of GM's previous failures to revolutionize from within. Oh, sorry Rick was that too mean?

P.S. The car pictured above is a non-functional 2011 Volt prototype that will be parked in DC upon Wagoner's arrival.

[Via Detroit Free Press]

We heard from TiVo's PR firm regarding that mysterious "Available in High Definition" menu pick discovered yesterday under Amazon's streaming Video on Demand service. The message says,

"The Amazon HD link pulled in screengrabs has already (or soon will be) removed. TiVo is continually testing different screen presentations and options for subscribers, but at this time we have nothing to announce, and don't expect to making an announcement on this subject in the near future."

If you accept the spin at face value (which we never do) then we shouldn't expect to see HD streaming of Amazon videos in the hours ahead. But for TiVo to admit that it tests its user interface in such a haphazard way on its production service offering really has us scratching our heads. We guess it's easier for TiVo to quell an irate customer services organization than to suffer the wrath of a business partner whose cards they just potentially revealed.

Having developed the first diode device back in the 80s, Kodak knows a thing or two about OLEDs. So it's no surprise (ok, maybe a little) to see them rolling out the world's first 7.6-inch OLED photo frame. CNET got its hands on the $1,000 device considered a "vanity piece" at that price. It offers "brilliant color" as you'd expect and "sharp" 800 x 480 pixel images on the thin OLED panel pushing a 30,000:1 contrast ratio. The WiFi panel connects to Flickr and Kodak's own photo sharing service (if you must) but will not transfer images from Macs direct to the frame -- PCs are apparently fine. Mac users will have to resort to USB drives, SD cards, or Kodak's on-line gallery for image transfers. The frame itself, is touch-sensitive (not the display) and features audio-in and audio-out jacks for musical slideshows. Check out CNET's first look in the video after the break.

[Via OLED-Info]

You know what we could really use right now? A chunky slab of XP running on a device that is simultaneously too big for our pockets but less functional than a netbook. Oh, what's that Trigem, you've got that? Suweet. Meet the LLUON Mobbit PS400, an Atom Z520-powered UMPC MID with a 4.8-inch (1,024 x 600) touchscreen LCD, 2 megapixel camera, 1GB memory, choice of 30GB hard disk or 16GB SSD, WiFi, and Korean WiMax (WiBro) and digital television (T-DMB). Here's the interesting part: the price. According CNET, it will cost "around" $411 (600,000 won) when it ships in January -- that's a lot of kit for that price (the similarly-speced R50A from ASUS costs over $1,800). If true, then the Mobbit looks to have finally achieved the pricing goal set by Microsoft and Intel for these UMPC-class devices way back in early 2006. Add the RAM- and touch-friendly Windows 7 OS and we might finally be home... albeit 3-years (too?) late.

[Via Akihabara News and CNET]

Look, we're not going to go and get all sappy about Logitech shipping it's billionth mouse. After all, we still prefer our fingers for pointing and keyboards for quick navigation around the ol' computer. Still, a claim of one billion served is always notable, be it computer peripherals or hamburgers. Logitech's very first mouse was the Logitech P4 introduced in 1982. For the very first mouse ever, you'll have to contact Douglas Engelbart, its inventor. Or just click on over the break for pics of the P4 and Engelbarts original toothless sawblade.

RED's "big change" announcement is out. The good news: no more waiting. Unfortunately, that's about it -- still no DSMC configuration for the general consumer. The rest of the news is targeted at professional film makers which, really should be expected if only these lustful hearts could be contained. With Jannard's team recently overcoming some sensor and electronics limitations, the specs and prices for the Scarlet and EPIC systems have been juggled resulting in a new, stretched delivery schedule. Judging by reactions in the RED USER forums, the changes are welcome if only vaguely understood for a system that only exists on paper (outside of RED ONE) for the time being. Now go ahead and hit the read link for the specifics of what changed -- and with 1,048,576 possible configurations to this modular camera system, you'd better bring help.

Update: After reviewing the 1 million configs, we did find something noteworthy: the previously TBD price of the 2/3-inch 8x fixed zoom 3K Scarlet is now priced at $3,750 when it ships as a "complete kit" with brain and lens sometime in the Fall of 2009. It looks like it should also be compatible with lenses from Canon and Nikon via an optional interchangeable lens mount. As previously announced, the "brain" alone costs $2,500. That officially puts RED within fighting distance of the 1080p-capable Canon EOS 5D Mark II for the prosumer's dollar. Relevant components pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Ben]

When SED development hit the brakes a few years ago, OLED technology quickly stepped in to fill the emptiness felt by our fickle hearts' desire for the blackest of blacks. Up until now, prototype OLED panels have been limited to a max size of about 40-inches. But these won't be available for consumers until 2010 or so. For now, we're "stuck with" Sony's little 11-inch XEL-1 if anyone actually wants to purchase an OLED TV for their living room kitchen. Samsung's vice president of flat panel development, HS Kim, says that Sammy "may demonstrate" a 50-inch OLED TV at CES in January but quickly tempers any enthusiasm with a crushing blow of reality,

"I'm sure that if we marketed such a set at ten times the price of current LCD TVs, which is what it would be now, no-one would buy it."

Kim then shifts into sales-mode by pointing out that Samsung's more power-efficient 240Hz LCDs and Plasmas with highly-reflective black panels and LED edge-lighting are quickly cutting into any advantage offered by OLEDs -- including thinness if you factor in the additional electronics you'd have to slap onto the back of those 3-mm thick OLED panels to create a TV. Of course, manufacturers can also dump all that tech into a display-side box much like Sony does with it's XEL-1, but hey, he's on a roll. When the interview with What Hi-Fi ended, Kim presumably kicked a puppy just to drive his points home.

[Via OLED-Display]

Step aside NetFlix, looks like Amazon is finally ready to crash your HD streaming party. According to one reader, the "Available in High Definition" menu pick just appeared under his TiVo's Amazon Video on Demand menu. Nothing happens when he clicks it but we imagine that might get sorted by the time the sun comes back around the globe. Anyone else seeing this?

[Thanks, Rich]

Now this is a fight worth waiting for.

[Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble]

Details are in, Nokia has a new flagship phone. The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an "always open" window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the "world's most advanced mobile computer." To back up the claim they've dropped in HSDPA, WiFi, and Bluetooth radios, A-GPS, a 3.5-mm headjack, 32GB of onboard memory with microSD expansion (for up to 48GB total capacity), and a battery capable of up to 1.5 days of continuous audio playback or 4.5-hours video. 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss glass and "DVD quality" video capture at 30fps, too. The specs are certainly impressive, let's see if the S60 5th Edition OS can support it. The N97 will launch with a retail price set at around €550 ($693) excluding subsidies and taxes, phone to ship in H1 2009.

Update: Hah, Nokia just boasted on stage at Nokia World that the N97 was the scoop "Engadget didn't get." O RLY??? Sure looks like the device codenamed Eitri that we broke to the world last month.

Update 2: Video demonstration after the break.

Update 3: Thanks for the widget love, Nokia (pic after the break, and thanks Eric).


Read -- Press Release
Read -- A bit more detail
Read -- Even more detail

They might not like it, but Sony looks ripe to enter the netbook market in the US. Unveiled today is the backside of this tiny "notebook PC" as described by the FCC under the model numbers PCG-1P1L and PCG-1P2L (PCG synonymous with Sony's VAIO laptop brand). We see tests for Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and both EVDO and HSPA data courtesy of Qualcomm's Gobi chipset. What's more, with the FCC providing the exact measurement of that label (128-mm wide), we can eyeball dimensions at just over 9.5 x 4.5-inches making this netbook even smaller than the 10.3 x 6.56-inch HP mini 1000. What impact that has on the QWERTY and trackpad (if there is one) remains to be seen. Now please Sony, just announce, we were just about to pull the trigger when you spoiled our netbook purchasing party.

P.S. It runs Windows according to the label's mention of the "Windows logo."

In case you missed it, last week TechARP said that Vista SP2 is scheduled for an April 2009 release to manufacturing -- that means not you... not yet anyway. We're guessing that it will hit a month later for general release if the Vista SP1 rollout was any indication. So who's TechARP? Oh just the same group of Malaysian kids that like to boast about how they broke the Vista SP1 and XP SP3 release schedules to the world. That makes their "confidential source" worth listening to. The source adds that Microsoft will deliver a SP2 release candidate as early as February so we'll know soon enough how accurate this rumor is.

[Via PC Advisor]

Few have been spared the satire of Matt Groening's long running animated sitcom. Last night, The Simpsons took on Apple, or uh, Mapple for a full 6 minutes of lampoonery -- a pretty harsh ride at a two-joke per minute pace. It all starts when the Springfield mall gets its very own Mapple store, "it's so sterile," gasps Lisa upon entering. Perhaps the best exchange comes from Bart's dubbing of a Steve Mobs' product announcement in front of a crowd of gaping nerds, "You think you're cool because you buy a $500 phone with a picture of a fruit on it. Well guess what? They cost 8 bucks to make and I pee on every one!" A Mapple store employee then angrily responds, "Who dares question the boss we fired 10 years ago and then brought back!" Yuk yuk. Videos after the break for as long as it takes for the copyrighters to wake up.

[Thanks, holycow]

Uh, oops. Sorry Nikon but your D3x is now even less of a mystery. According to your own Pro magazine, the D3x will sport an FX-format, 24.5 megapixel sensor shooting 5fps at full resolution or 7fps at a reduced 10 megapixels. Nikon made a few other tweaks including an extended ISO 50-6400 range but the body design, AF, metering, and main functions remain the same as the D3. The only thing we need now is a price and confirmed release date. Back to you Nikon. One more shot detailing the features after the break, full details beyond the read link.

[Via dpreview forums]