Infiniti may be looking ahead to its promise of all-electrified powertrains from 2021, but it can't seem to help cherrypicking retro ideas for its striking concept cars. The Infiniti Prototype 10 is no exception, revealed this week at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and pairing a thoroughly modern EV drive with a delicious California speedster design.
For years, Samsung has been teasing how it is working towards the holy grail of mobile devices with foldable and even flexible screens. For a time, that boast was believed to be near completion with what was called Project Valley. That valley suddenly went silent and then there was news of its cancellation in favor of what would be called the “Galaxy X”. An alleged prototype of that Project Valley phone has recently surfaced and, suffice it to say, it’s a good thing Samsung didn’t end up with that device.
Dual-screen laptops might just be the next trend in consumer PCs, at least if ASUS, Lenovo, and Intel have their way. While smartphone makers are still stumped by the foldable display puzzle, laptop makers don’t have that same problem. They can have two screens separated by a hinge and can even have those two screens be of different types. That’s definitely the idea behind Intel’s Tiger Rapids, a prototype dual-screen notebook that has a regular LCD screen on one side and stylus-enabled e-paper display on the other.
If the current form of smartwatch devices feels lacking — a small touchscreen on the wrist with limited app functionality — here's a wearable with the potential to really shake things up. The LumiWatch prototype projects an interactive interface onto the skin of the arm, turning it into a touchscreen. It's developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, and they say that the projection can create an interface that's almost five times larger than today's smartwatch displays.
Audi is working on an all-electric Grand Tourer, a sleek four-door sedan which should not only give Tesla some sleepless nights but do plenty to push EVs into the limelight. Previewed in prototype form at Audi's Annual Press Conference in Ingolstadt, Germany today, the Audi E-Tron GT promises zero-emissions but no shortage of performance or luxury.
Microsoft is known for crushing dreams of things that could have been. It is also known for putting out products that perhaps it should never have. The latter calls to mind the Zune, Windows Vista, and Windows RT. And, perhaps, this Xbox Watch that has popped up yet again. Dropped before it could take final form, what could have been Microsoft’s first smartwatch seemed to be ready for production. Perhaps it was for the best that it didn’t make it that far.
Back in late 20016, Microsoft made it clear that it was discontinuing its Band line of health and fitness tracking wearables. This came as a bit of a surprise, as a new model was expected to be just a few months away, especially considering the improvements made between the original Band and the Band 2. It turns out that Microsoft made significant progress on a Band 3, and a leaked prototype model has revealed exactly what was in store.
Samsung recently tested 5G on a train traveling at about 62MPH and was able to hit a peak speed of 1.7Gbps. The company called its test, which was performed with Japan's KDDI, a success, saying it achieved successful downlink and uplink handover in addition to the crazy peak speed. The test took place in Saitama, Japan, on October 17 through October 19.
Most driverless cars are aiming to do away with physical controls, which makes the fact that Toyota's latest autonomous vehicle has two sets all the more unexpected. The Toyota Research Institute (TRI)'s Platform 2.1 research vehicle gives March's big 2.0 update a sensor update, throwing in a new LIDAR laser scanning system. Arguably more important, however, is how the prototype melds different levels of driver-assistance together.
Although not as daring as, say, Google, Microsoft has had its fair share of hardware experiments. Many of which, however, are perhaps best forgotten. One such device might be the so called Xbox Watch, the company's rumored attempt to catch up with the smartwatch market. That never came to pass, for better or for worse. And if this prototype of that Xbox Watch has any ring of truth to it, it is perhaps all for the better.
Lenovo might not be the biggest name in the mobile scene, smartphones or tablets, but you can’t say it isn’t willing to make some ambitious leaps. From the first commercial AR Tango phone to the Yoga Book tablet and, indirectly, to the modular Moto Z, it has been willing to play around with trends and hype, whether or not it actually continues to produce and support those products. For now, we can at least appreciate how Lenovo is this close to bringing the foldable device dream to life, showing off a working prototype at the Lenovo Tech World and making our mouths drool.
The gaming industry is a very secretive one. Much of the planning, brainstorming, and testing happens behind closed doors and eventually gets lost and forgotten. That means knowledge and experiences that could educate future generations turn into dust, sometimes literally. Fortunately, there are those who have recognized that depressing situation and have taken upon themselves to archive and preserve gaming history, which is how gamers and game developers are now able to enjoy a Rayman game that was scrapped and almost never saw the light of day.