iPhone 3G S Upgrade Eligibility Update

After much thought and many complaints from AT&T customers, AT&T has gone ahead and changed the eligibility for their best upgrade pricing to the iPhone 3G S. When the iPhone 3G S eligibility rules were released, current iPhone 3G customers were taken back and began complaining against the upgrade prices of $399 and $499. Customers who previously would not have become upgrade eligible until July, August, or September of this year, will now qualify for AT&T’s lowest upgrade pricing starting tomorrow, making them eligible to purchase the iPhone 3G S at $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB).

We’re now pleased to offer our iPhone 3G customers who are upgrade eligible in July, August or September 2009 our best upgrade pricing, beginning Thursday, June 18.

The updated eligibilty tools will reflect this change on June 18th. If you’ve already pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S, the price of the device will be adjusted when picked up, or credit will be given for the difference in price. If you still aren’t eligible for our best upgrade pricing and you still want iPhone 3G S now, you do have options:

* You may qualify for the iPhone 3G S early upgrade price of $399 (16GB) or $499 (32GB).
* You can pay full retail—and not have to sign a 2-year contract—at $599 (16GB) or $699 (32GB).

Users can check their upgrade eligibility status by visiting AT&T’s iPhone page, calling *NEW# on their AT&T handset, or visiting any AT&T store. Remember, the new pricing will not appear in the eligibility tools listed until Thursday, June 18th.

So will these changes encourage you to go buy an iPhone 3G S. Do you plan on waiting in the lines this Friday or will you wait for the crowds to die down?

Hybrid Scooter That Runs on Anything That Burns

The multimillionaire inventor behind the Segway personal transporter is developing of a new bike that combines electric power and a radical generator which will allow it to burn almost any fuel.
Built around a fairly conventional battery and electric motor combination to provide the drive to the wheel, something experience with the Segway makes relatively easy, the radical part of the design is the inclusion of a Stirling engine to recharge the bike's battery pack.
Based on technology that pre-dates the internal combustion engine by nearly a century, the Stirling engine is closer in concept to a steam engine, using external combustion, and without the need for a fuel that can be injected and burned incredibly fast inside a normal engine's combustion chamber, it can run on virtually anything that burns – opening the door to easily renewable fuels rather than relying on dwindling fossil fuel supplies.

Portable, Inkless Printer

Dell has released a photo printer that uses a technology called Zero-ink. Dell’s Wasabi PZ310 Ultramobile Photo Printer holds up to 12 sheets of adhesive-backed ZINK Paper, and can connect to a digital camera via PictBridge or wirelessly to a camera phone or computer via Bluetooth.

ZINK Zero-ink technology replaces the hassles and expense of ink or toner with paper that is embedded with cyan, yellow and magenta dye crystals. These crystals respond to targeted heat pulses of specific duration to form all the colors of the rainbow and produce prints that are long-lasting, smudge-proof, water-resistant, tear-proof and fade-resistant.

'Waterless' Washing Machine

A washing machine that cuts water usage by 90% is due to hit American shores next year. The Xeros washing machine, which takes its name from the Greek word for “dry”, cleans clothes using reusable nylon polymer beads with an inherent polarity that attracts stains.

The beads are added to the wash along with as little as a cup of water and a drop of detergent. After the water dissolves the stains, the beads, which become absorbent under humid conditions, soak up the water along with the dirt. The dirt is not just attracted to the surface, but is absorbed into the center of the beads.

The Intelligent Hose

The Measuring Consumption water sprayer displays how much water is consumed during your watering/washing activities. This knowledge can help you save water consumption because you will know when and where you are using the most water.

Metromorph - The Car That Hangs Out of Your Window

The Metromorph hangs outside of a high-rise window. At the push of a button, it gently glides down to the ground level. When it touches ground it transforms into a car.
The Peugeot Metromorph is powered by two in wheel motors placed in the back. There are two battery cases on the back as well. The seats are held by rotating arms which keep the seat level when the vehicle goes vertical or horizontal. When the vehicle is a balcony the seats are placed on a rolling base which enables them to become lounge chairs thus freeing up the interior of the car to make it a balcony. The interior is also left fairly hollow to accommodate the balcony mode.

Atrificial Heart Inspired by Cockroaches

Cockroaches have multi-chambered hearts shaped like tubes that are much more resistant to failure than human hearts. The chambers are organized sequentially, each one pushing blood into the next, until the ideal output pressure is reached in the last chamber. Due to this setup, a single chamber failure in a cockroach heart is not cataclysmic to the organ; It can continue beating, but with less efficiency.
A team of biomedical engineers out of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IITK), have developed a new artificial heart, modeled after this muti-chamber idea. But instead of shaping the heart as a tube, they've created the chambers in a series of concentric spheres like an onion.