BMW's first all-electric regular series production vehicle, the Megacity EV, has now been set in stone and inserted into the company's roadmap for a commercial launch in 2012 or 2013. The Bavarian automaker has gone official with word that it plans to use its Leipzig assembly plant to produce the car and further notes that it'll feature a similar setup to the ActiveE concept (pictured above), which is set for field testing in 2011. Essentially a 1 series that feeds off the electric ……

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We've been itching to get our hands on the Alienware M11x ever since we first saw it at CES — it's one of the most interesting riffs on the thin-and-light we've seen in a long time. Sure, it's compact, but inside it's got a ULV Core 2 Duo paired with a switchable NVIDIA GT335M GPU, making it one of the most powerful small laptops on the market. But power never comes cheap: the M11x starts at $799, and our tester model equipped with an upgraded 1.3GHz SU7300 Core 2 Duo and 4……

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BMW's Mini brand is getting a little bigger soon, with the Countryman bringing a taller stance and some AWD to the party, but that won't be the only exciting addition to the mix. The Countryman will be the first Mini to offer Mini Connected, an infotainment system of the likes of Sync or MyFord. This one naturally features iPhone/iPod integration and all that jazz, but most interesting is the so-called “web radio function” that will allow internet radio streams to be beamed right into t……

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Who woulda thunk it? Giving WiFi to fidgety students on a bus actually makes them more productive. Nearly three years after an Arkansas school launched a trial that delivered laptops, iPods and wireless internet to a bus, an Arizona school district is discovering the merits of such a system — though with this one, there stands a good chance for it to go well beyond the “pilot” phase. Students in Vail, Arizona have been able to handle school assignments, engage in research and even update their……

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Wired recently reported that the UK Home Office is preparing a national fleet of unmanned aircraft, but the surveillance-loving island nation has had a keen interest in drones for quite a while. Now, Merseyside police (who've had a drone of their own for about six months) are bragging about their first ever catch with the new toy. When coppers heard that a suspected car thief was hiding in the bushes, they wasted no time launching their Unmanned Aerial Vehicle with on-board thermal imaging ……

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FLO TV may not have had the best Super Bowl commercial (not by a long shot, actually), but the fledgling mobile programming service is doing its darnedest to make some waves over in Barcelona. The biggest news is that Qualcomm will be on hand at MWC in order to showcase a FLO-enabled smartbook, a device that will purportedly bring together live television and live social networking updates — something that would come in handy while watching the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, for exam……

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Had enough of dealing with oligopolistic wired broadband suppliers? Well, with Netgear's brand spanking new MBRN3300E you can just ride off into the 3G sunset and say goodbye to those pesky wires. Like the majority of wireless routers today, it comes with 802.11n WiFi and a built-in firewall, but what sets it apart is the integrated 3G modem provided by Ericsson. With it, you can suckle down broadband straight from the ether and transport it throughout your home, whether you live in New York……

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File this one in the “you've got to be kidding me” category. Just in case you're terrified of your dog, cat, horse or Russian grizzly bear getting “put on alert” by the “jarring volumes and piercing sounds” that are generally emitted from your boombox, there's now a solution to your specific quandary. Pet Acoustics has just introduced the My Pet Speaker, an omni-directional sound system that contains a 4-inch driver, reduced bass levels and the extraordinary ability to “disburse mus……

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We've recently espied some new video detailing Volvo's pedestrian detection system, and while some of this info has been out for a while now we figure it's certainly more than cool enough to warrant a quick look. According to a freshly minted press release, the technology is being featured on the upcoming S60, which — in addition to the newest in collision detection and auto-braking — can spot pedestrians who step in front of the car, warn the driver, and automatically apply full ……

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In the market for new desktop machinery? Gateway's gone ahead and given its gaming-centric FX series a facelift for the new year — nothing Alienware-esque crazy, but we do like the accessible ports up top, right next to the control dial for LED-infused lighting effects. Enough about the superficial, let's go inside: a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 processor, ATI Radeon HD5850 with 1GB discrete memory, 1.5TB HDD with additional expansion bays, up to 16GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and a……

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