lines

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance announced today that German auto manufacturers Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, and Volkswagen have agreed to support HomePlug's Green PHY standard for electric-vehicle charging technology.

HomePlug is a technology that turns electrical wiring into data cable, hence eliminating the need for a separate set of wires for networking. Currently the most popular application of the power-line technology is in HomePlug AV-based devices used for home power-line networking, such as the WD Livewire, or the Linksys PLK300.

According to the HomePlug Powerline Alliance, the power-line standard that the five German car manufacturers--"after intense case studies … Read more

Flight Control is an attractive, addictive game in which you play an air traffic controller guiding an endless armada of incoming aircraft to safe landings (you hope!) at a crowded airport. Flight Control makes great use of the iOS touch interface, as you use your finger to trace a trajectory for each approaching craft, sending jets, seaplanes, and helicopters to various runways and landing pads. The controls are incredibly simple and intuitive, which contributes to Flight Control's surprisingly rich, devilishly addictive gameplay.

The game starts out at a leisurely pace, but as aircraft enter from every edge of the … Read more

Flight Control HD is an attractive, addictive game in which you play an air-traffic controller guiding an endless armada of incoming aircraft to safe landings (you hope!) at a crowded airport. Flight Control makes great use of the iPad interface, as you use your finger to trace a trajectory for each approaching craft, sending jets, seaplanes, helicopters, et al. to various runways and landing pads. The controls are incredibly simple and intuitive, which contributes to Flight Control's surprisingly rich, devilishly addictive gameplay.

The game starts out at a leisurely pace, but as aircraft enter from every edge of the … Read more

Photo-editing programs seem to come in two flavors: huge programs that provide comprehensive editing suites, and tiny utilities that have only one or two features. Auto Adjust Photo falls into this second category--or at least it would if it worked. The program promises to analyze an image and then set "the most optimal contrast/gamma and color balance for it." Unfortunately, we did not find that to be the case.

Initially, we liked the fact that Auto Adjust Photo seemed so easy to use. It installed without issues and then appeared in the context menu any time we … Read more

Google and its partners cleared the first major hurdle with U.S. regulators today to build a $5 billion transmission line that would transport electricity from wind farms off the Atlantic coast.

The companies backing the project can earn a 12.59 percent return on their equity investment in the proposed power line, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled.

The project, which consists of two parallel transmission lines stretching from northern New Jersey to southern Virginia, could transport up to 6,000 megawatts of electricity that would provide power to 1.9 million households.

The transmission lines would each extend 250 miles along the mid-Atlantic coast. The electricity carried by the lines would connect with the main electric grid at onshore sites in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

The project still needs approval from the Interior Department, several state agencies, and the regional power grid operator, PJM. The project's backers are Google, Good Energies, a private firm, and Japan's Marubeni Corp.

The companies hope to have the first phase of the transmission line operating in 2016.

The transmission line project will help the mid-Atlantic states meet their goals to… Read more

If you live in a house that's either huge or has many thick walls or both, even the most powerful home wireless router probably won't be able to broadcast the signal to every corner. In this case, it's a good idea to also equip the property with power-line networking via kits such as the WD Livewire or the Linksys PLK300. In this case, it's more convenient to get yourself an all-in-one router that has built-in support for both Wi-Fi and power-line technologies.

The first example of this new type of networking device is the D-Link DHP-1320 Wireless N PowerLine Router.

The DHP-1320 looks similar to other wireless routers, except it's noticeably thicker. This is because its power adapter is housed inside the chassis and doubles as a power-line adapter. When plugged into the wall, the power cable will also work as a data cable for the first end of a power-line connection. All you have to do is plug other HomePlug AV Powerline adapters into other power sockets around the house and you'll have yourself a complete power-line network, which turns the home's electrical wiring into network cables.… Read more

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm one of the people who's waited in a long line for several hours for an Apple product.

This was a short time before I was on the front lines of one of these launches as part of our coast-to-coast coverage at CNET. And what I can tell you is that there was a reason for it. It was an iPhone, and there weren't a lot of them, and it was something I was going to use every day. Not to mention the most important factor: the sooner I got it, … Read more

I remember, last year, waiting on line one morning for an iPhone 4. I was on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, and I gave up after an hour and a half. The lines were too long and had formed hours before.

This was two months or so past the iPhone 4's launch, and it was still impossible to buy one of the phones at a store. Lines would form every morning, scoop up whatever little stock there was, and leave the Apple Store once again drained of its supply. The cause? Grey-market resellers.

Sound familiar?

We're less … Read more

THX, born out of the George Lucas/Star Wars legacy, has stayed true to its roots while developing new audio technologies to improve the home entertainment experience.

Last week I spoke with Laurie Fincham, senior vice president of THX to discuss the company's Steerable Line Array technology. He told me THX wanted to create a new type of speaker that could focus sound beams to specific areas in a room. I've heard those sorts of claims before, but Mr. Fincham assured me that this system was designed to a very high standard. The Steerable Line Array speaker prototype … Read more