Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing

A pair of companies developing their own commercial space shuttles are presumably trying to flatten their hair after some rigorous wind tunnel testing. First up, Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos (the guy behind Amazon), a company that's remained pretty quiet on its efforts to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. Its Space Vehicle setup will plump for a biconic shape (seen above), with a flattened side and a split flap. According to Blue Origin's president, Rob Meyerson, the shape allows greater volume than traditional designs, but forgo the "weight penalty" of winged craft. Compared to earlier capsules, the Space Vehicle's shape, with its fuselage flap to generate lift, should also give it better control on re-entry to earth.

Juggling for wind tunnel time, Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser has also been blasted with smoke to test its own air resistance credentials. Its module would lauch from the top of the rocket, and glide (as much as anything that costs this much can) back to earth like NASA's own space shuttles. The Dream Chaser is planning its first flight for this fall. You can check out its more traditional take on the future of space travel after the break -- and decide which of the two you'll want sending your children to the mines.

[Picture credit: Blue Origin, SNC]

Continue reading Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing

Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

The end of last week's Switched On left doubt for the future of dedicated devices that tread on the turf of smartphones. After all, funding is key to every major new product initiative and, despite the vast fortunes of many Silicon Valley engineers that have been accumulated via IPOs and acquisitions, few wish to take on the risk of fronting a new consumer device themselves.(In 2007, the handheld FlipStart PC was hatched from FlipStart Labs, funded by Vulcan Ventures, the investment arm of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.)

Most venture capitalists abhor the device business; it is a rare device that makes it to the spotlight of startup debutante balls such as DEMO, TechCrunch Disrupt, or Launch. Even most of the 94 companies at CES' Eureka Park were not developing end-user devices Where, then, can a device entrepreneur go for funding and pick up some publicity in the process?

Continue reading Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters

Switched On: Big kicks not all for starters originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Seven Forces Disrupting Venture Capital

For the past two years, I have read or glanced over what seems like hundreds of blog posts and thousands of tweets from people who either directly claim or indirectly hint at a disruption of traditional venture capital. For some, the factors related to the economy, that limited partners and especially institutional investors were reviewing their investment approaches. For others, it seemed as if there was too much money in the venture asset class, that there was too much money chasing too few real opportunities. There seemed to be a long laundry list of why venture capital was undergoing this shift, but never any thread that could lay out all the factors and synthesize just how each factor contributed to shift. That is, until now..

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Is this RIM's BlackBerry 10 development device?

You know the drill -- grab yourself a spoonful of Morton's and get ready for another supposed leak of a gadget. This time around, you're looking at what's claimed as being of Research In Motion's BlackBerry 10 "Development Alpha" devices that will be handed out during next week's BlackBerry Jam -- just like the company promised a month ago. Images of the device first surfaced over at Crackberry's forums and, as the site points out, the touchscreen candy bar seems to share its design DNA with the PlayBook. Keeping in mind that it's likely to remain a testing device for devs, don't bank on it ever hitting store shelves. That said, we're now curious how pivotal a roll RIM's famous tactile keyboards will play on its next-generation phones -- if any. Head over to the sources links below if you'd like to catch more photos from Mr. Blurrycam and extra information in the meantime.

Is this RIM's BlackBerry 10 development device? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung May Have Just Become The King Of Mobile Handsets, While S&P Downgrades Nokia To Junk

Samsung has been, for years, slowly approaching Nokia as the world's biggest handset maker, and today looks like the day the crown has been passed: As of last quarter, Strategy Analytics noted that Samsung shipped the most mobile devices of any single manufacturer world-wide, also taking pole position in smartphones. At the same time, Nokia not only slipped in those rankings but it also got another slap in the face, as Standard & Poor's, the credit-rating agency, downgraded Nokia to "junk" status. The news comes on the same day that Samsung presented its Q1 earnings, in which the Korean company reported revenues of 45 trillion won ($40 billion) for the three months that ended March 31 -- citing strong results in the division that includes mobile devices, with especially "brisk sales" of its GALAXY S II smartphone and newer Galaxy Note device.

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Powwow draws tens of thousands to NM (Providence Journal)

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'Dark Shadows' Sneak Peek Reveals Johnny Depp's De-Fanging Plan

New featurette is dedicated to late star of original soap, Jonathan Frid.
By John Mitchell

Johnny Depp in "Dark Shadows"
Photo: Warner Bros

With just two weeks left until the big release of "Dark Shadows," Warner Bros. is stoking the coals of excitement with a new featurette that brings not only behind-the-scenes interviews and footage, but offers up an important new plot detail from the film.

"The legend of the vampire has been told for centuries, capturing the dark shadows of our imagination and inspiring filmmakers and actors to breathe new life into the undead," a voice-over reminds us at the top of the clip. "But there's never been a vampire like Barnabas Collins."

Depp said the idea to do the film came naturally to him and Burton, who have worked together on eight films. "I'd always been sort of attracted to horror films and things like that, even as a very young kid," Depp explains. "I said, 'Tim, we should do a vampire movie together.' "

And when Johnny Depp and Tim Burton decide to do something, it has a way of getting done.

A large part of the featurette focuses on the history of vampires in movies and reminds us that one of cinema's great vampires, Christopher Lee, is featured in "Shadows."

"One of my favorite moments I've ever been able to experience in a film was I got to hypnotize Dracula; I got to hypnotize Christopher Lee," Depp says. "He was, you know, the great Dracula."

To get into character as Barnabas Collins, Depp didn't stray far from the source material. "For Barnabas, everywhere I searched character-wise, I kept coming back to Jonathan Frid," the actor explains. "He really did something beautiful with that character on the 'Dark Shadows' series back in the '60s and early '70s."

Frid, who cameos in the film and is shown arriving at a party at Collinwood in the featurette, died earlier this month in his native Canada. The clip closes with an "In Memoriam" dedication to the classically trained actor, who maintained a close relationship with the show's fans by appearing at "Shadows" conventions and readings as recently as 2011, before his health began to decline.

The clip features some great new scenes from the film, including a fun bit where Depp's Barnabas seeks advice from Chloe Moretz's Carolyn Stoddard on "the art of courting a woman of this time," but importantly introduces a major plot twist that we wondered (all the way back in October!) whether Burton would include in his film: Barnabas' attempt to de-fang himself with the help of Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) and become mortal again to pursue a romantic relationship with Bella Heathcote's Victoria Winters.

"If a man can become a monster, then a monster can become a man," Barnabas says in a voice-over while Dr. Hoffman surveys large blood-filled beakers and Depp sits with IV lines running from him. It's a story line carried over directly from both the original soap and its short-lived '90s remake. (Indeed, this particular story line was the focus of NBC's revival starring Ben Cross and Joanna Going.)

"By tapping into vampires, witches, ghosts, the reason they're powerful is because we all kind of experience those feelings on some level," Burton says of the film. "It's something that remains in our popular culture because it's strangely part of our everyday lives."

Just two weeks to go, "Dark Shadows" fans! Are you excited for the flick? Let us know in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Dark Shadows."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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A-Rod: Cameron Diaz Is One of the Greatest People Ever

Talk about a nice guy! Alex Rodriguez and Cameron Diaz always kept their relationship hush-hush during their time together, but now that they've split the Yankees star is ready to open up about his ex (at least a little bit). And he has nothing but sweet things to say about his former leading lady.

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Messaging Startup SendHub Raises $2M From Kapor, Menlo Ventures, 500 Startups, Angels & Others

SendHub, the YC-backed messaging service which has been growing like crazy this year, has just scored $2 million in seed funding in a round led by?Kapor Capital, and with participation from Menlo Ventures, 500 Startups, Howard Lindzon?s Social Leverage fund, Bronze Investments, as well as angels Eric Ries, Jawed Karim, Paul Buchheit and a handful of private angel investors. Nope, not a bad lineup for a seed round. And the reason? SendHub is seeing both decent growth and revenue, it seems.

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Ashton Kutcher: 4 Women In 4 Days!

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis may have just gone on a short trip together, but if the actress is smart she will be careful, as many claim Ashton's all too eager to move on from his split with Demi ? and on, and on, and on. ?Ashton is single and feels he can date as many women as he wants,? a friend of the 34-year-old explains to In Touch.

On one wild weekend, In Touch can exclusively report that the bawdy bachelor hooked up with not one, not two, not even three, but four hot girls! After a rebound romance with producer Lorene Scafaria and a sexy sleepover with Rihanna in March, Ashton arrived at a Passover bash at the Kabbalah Centre in New York on April 12 with another beauty on his arm. The next night, he was spotted seducing two young blondes at Mister H in the Big Apple?s Mondrian SoHo hotel.

Then, two days later, the star shared a sushi date with his former That ?70s Show co-star Mila Kunis at Asanebo in LA. ?Ashton was getting very touchy-feely with her,? a pal says. ?He was grabbing her hand the whole time.?

But while the other women were just one-night stands for the newly minted player, the pal swears that Mila is different. ?Ashton?s always had a crush on her,? the pal admits of the ex-castmates, who began working together on the hit sitcom as teens. ?But Mila had a serious boyfriend.? When Mila broke up with Macaulay Culkin ? and Ashton?s marriage crumbled ? Ashton told Mila that he was going through a tough time and needed a friend. Soon, the pair were talking regularly ? and while Ashton hopes to take things to the next level with Mila, the pal says right now men are not her priority.

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President Obama, Jimmy Fallon Slow Jam the News

President Barack Obama appeared on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon early this morning, taking part in the show's running bit called "slow jamming the news."

If you haven't seen it, the segment's name speaks for itself.

In front of a live college audience at the University of North Carolina, Obama talked about student loans while Fallon's house band the Roots jammed on a slow, sensual R&B beat, making the topic seem sexier than you ever thought possible:

Obama on Jimmy Fallon

With the rhythmic tunes accompanying him, Obama said, "What we said is simple: Now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people."

Fallon then added (in his best Barry White voice), "Awww, yeah. You should listen to the president. Or as I like to call him, the Preezy of the United Steezy."

"Things are heating up inside Congress' chambers behind those closed doors."

We don't even know what that means, but the "POTUS with the most-est" needs to bring the Roots with him and deliver campaign speeches this way more often.

Mitt Romney wouldn't stand a chance.

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Wallpaper Wednesday - Sky, Phil's Podcast Mic, Antique Flowers

Looking for something sweet to set as you wallpaper? If you haven't already taken notice of our amazing free Android Wallpaper Gallery (shame on you) there is no better time than now! We have tons of great wallpapers to meet the needs of just about anyone out there, whether looking for some great custom designs, some candid shots, or some favorites from around the 'net, they are all here.

If you don't see what you want in the gallery, and happen to find it somewhere else, do us a favor will ya? Spread the love to the rest of the Android Central Community and upload it, it's simple and takes only a minute. Be sure to log in before uploading so we know who they came from, and we can give you the proper credit when we show them off!

• Phil's Podcast Mic, Phil Nickinson
• Antique Flowers, Michelle Haag
• Sky, Annonymous

 

• Browse the Android Central Wallpaper Gallery
• Share your favorite wallpapers

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Motherhood Makes Beyonc? Feel ?More Beautiful Than Ever?

"I feel more beautiful than I've ever felt because I've given birth," says PEOPLE's 2012 World's Most Beautiful Woman. "I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this earth."

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Lane Garrison Not Charged in Domestic Violence Case ... Yet

Lane Garrison's lawyer said today that his client will not be charged with felony domestic violence for allegedly attacking his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Mattingly.

Yet, anyway.

Harland Braun says he spoke with the D.A. Tuesday and was told prosecutors don't have sufficient evidence right now to file a case against Garrison.

That could change, however, as the investigation continues. Lane's case remains under review and charges stemming from his arrest still could be filed.

There's also the matter of Garrison's 2007 DUI-manslaughter conviction.

Braun he is getting in touch with the parole board to see if the department will take action against the former Prison Break star for his role in this case.

Even though he hasn't been charged with domestic violence, Lane is currently under a parole hold in Beverly Hills jail while that matter is addressed.

Lane's former girlfriend, Ashley Mattingly, claims he attacked her Saturday night and says the surveillance video shows the alleged attack go down.

Braun says the surveillance video is deceiving and it actually does NOT show Lane striking Ashley, but merely trying to grab his phone back from her.

Lane Garrison Slaps Ashley Mattingly

Braun says he believes his client was convincing when he spoke with Beverly Hills police detectives, and that's why no immediate charges have been filed.

The two definitely got into it in a bad way, but establishing whether a clear assault took place during the melee is a different story. Stay tuned.

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