It’s only a concept at the moment, but designer Matthiew Tarrit claims that his Polar Vehicle arctic base was created in cooperation with polar scientists. If it ever does come to fruition, scientists working in some of the most inhospitable areas of the planet will certainly be living in style. [ Coroflot via Core77 ]

We Americans have Fusion-io’s ioDrive and OCZ’s Z Drive to look forward to when it comes to slamming down a PCIe-based SSD solution in our lightning fast rigs, but what about the savvy Japanese? Enter PhotoFast, who has just revealed a luscious PCIe SSD of its own, ranging from 256GB to one whole terabyte in size. The unit includes a couple of SSDs hooked together in a RAID0 setup in order to provide up to 750MB/sec read rates and 700MB/sec write rates. As with most SSDs, this unit also boasts a 1.5 million hour MTBF and should work perfectly within Windows XP and Vista machines. Those in and around Osaka can expect these to land around mid-October for about the cost of a new TV — seriously. [Via Engadget Japanese ] Filed under: Storage PhotoFast intros 256GB to 1TB G-Monster PCIe SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:43:00 EST.

Kevin Rose , the Silicon Valley’s John Mayer, just got a few Tesla S concept shots leaked to him. The S, Tesla’s $50,000ish electric 4-door Sedan, is supposed to be unveiled in Los Angeles today. What’s most interesting to tech enthusiasts is the fact that the middle panel seems to be one gigantic screen. Is it touchscreen? I damn well hope so

We were teased with a shot of the kinetically-powered Ulysse Nardin Chairman smartphone earlier this month , but now the wraps are off—and what we are left with is truly one unique device. Known for their watchmaking, the Ulysse Nardin has the mechanical intricacy you would expect along with a 2.8-inch multitouch screen, 5-megapixel camera, biometric fingerprint unlocking, WiFi and an email browser. It also sucks supplemental power into the battery by harvesting kinetic energy from the revolving rotor on the back. The phone is currently on display at the Baselworld watch and jewelery expo and will be available, I’m assuming, sometime in the near future for a completely absurd price. [ Uncells ]

Yeah, we’d seen those fine mechanical workings from the back , but Ulysse Nardin has just taken the wraps of its entire Chairman handset, which they bill as a “hybrid smart phone” — and actually seem to mean it. Ulysse Nardin surprisingly hasn’t skimped on specs here, with a 2.8-inch multitouch screen, finger print reader for phone unlock, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi and the inclusion of an email app and a browser. There’s also that fancy kinetic rotor system for passive charging of the phone, but no word on how much battery life that will actually get you. Ulysse Nardin is currently showing off the phone in Rose Gold, Rose Gold & Blue, Rose Gold & Steel, Stealth Black and Steel & Blue trims, so there should be plenty of options to set you apart from your other billionaire friends. The device is currently on display at BASELWORLD; no word on price, but if you have to ask… [Thanks, Stefan I.] Gallery: Ulysse Nardin Chairman “hybrid smart phone” unveiled Filed under: Cellphones Ulysse Nardin Chairman “hybrid smart phone” unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:42:00 EST

Lots of us have been using the iPhone 3.0 beta full-time. Now we’re rolling back, because it is decidedly NOT ready. Here’s how to downgrade back to 2.2.1 if you are in a similar predicament. Now, we’re not saying we’re surprised, or angry, or anything. It’s beta software, and beta software is by definition not ready for everyday use. But in the pursuit of the latest and greatest thing, we all have learned that a little bit of inconsistency or crashiness is often a fair price to pay for being on the cutting edge

Originally promised to launch on April 1, iTunes’ new tiered pricing plan—with popular songs running $1.29, and not-so-popular songs fetching as little as 69 cents—will go live on April 7 . The LA Times says that the pricing structure will be based on popularity, “true to supply-and-demand economics.” (Except that you know, there is limitless supply here, but whatever.) New artists will be the ones most likely to have their tracks sold for 69 cents a pop. Even classics that are perpetually loved by the masses—the LA Times mentions “Born in the USA” could go for $1.29. 99 cents is such a psychologically satisfying price—it’s not even a dollar, as this really annoying Coke radio ad I kept hearing over the weekend pounded into my brain. It doesn’t take a genius to see that $1.29 tracks are going to sell way less than they would if they were 99 cents, because the purchase officially moves from impulse level to the lower rung of “well, lemme think about it” territory. [ LA Times - Thanks Ray !]

Is one of Acer’s mysterious smartphones packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon ? According to the folks at All About Phones who reportedly attended an Acer event recently, the F1 will be running the 800MHz ARM chip, which is a tad slower than the 1000MHz equivalent in the TG01 . The device will be Windows Mobile 6.5-based, but that’s supposedly gonna be shrouded by a Flash-based Acer Suite 2.0 shell. The report also mentions a September release, which jibes with what we saw on that makeshift roadmap at Mobile World Congress, and a 560 Euro ($760) price tag. Nothing’s confirmed, but between Acer, HTC, Samsung, and LG , surely someone’s gearing up to join Toshiba in the Snapdragon bandwagon.

Lenovo ’s breaking some serious molds with the IdeaCentre A600 , and if you’ve been waiting anxiously ever since we got up close and personal with one back at CES, the patience has (nearly) paid off. As of now (like, right this very moment in time), three varients of the all-black machine are up for ordering, with base prices sitting at $699.99, $799.99 and $999.99. They each show that shipping won’t happen for another few weeks, but we’ll bet Lenovo’s just being conversative. Filed under: Desktops Lenovo’s IdeaCentre A600 now available to order, should ship soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read

The technology behind Neurosky’s Mindset is essentially the same that was peddled around last year at trade shows. The only difference now is that it’s ready for PC gaming consumption starting in July. For those in the dark, the Neurosky Mindset , is a gaming controller that monitors brainwaves, and uses those readings to carry out specific actions within a game. In demos, this includes sliding boxes, lifting objects, and setting crap on fire. It also doubles as a pair of Headphones with a bluetooth mic built-in.