stealth

Unmanned stealth plane may pick its own targets

Britain's Ministry of Defence recently unveiled an unmanned stealth attack aircraft that redefines "autopilot"--it's designed to fly halfway around the world and choose its own targets without human intervention, according to a report in The Globe and Mail.

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, the Taranis is designed to fly much farther than conventional drones, which typically support troops or carry out air strikes in a limited area. Controlled by ground-based human operators, Taranis is supposed to be able to hit targets on other continents; it's unclear when the target-picking AI skills would … Read more

Go in for a bombing run, soldier

StealthBomber is a free, 2D arcade game in which you pilot a "stealth bomber" dropping bombs on a steady stream of tanks, trucks, and other vehicles.

You hold your device vertically (portrait, not landscape), with your bomber moving back and forth at the top of the screen and your enemies moving left to right on the bottom of the screen. You move horizontally using a touch-screen slider at the base of the screen (or just touch and drag anywhere to move), and you drop bombs with an adjacent button. A set number of enemies, all with varying speeds … Read more

Lotus Scura goes 'Stealth' at Tokyo Motor Show

Yesterday I posted up a clip produced by Edmunds.com's Inside Line series that ran down bite-size highlights of a few of the new cars being paraded at the still-in-effect Tokyo Auto Show. Of course, there are many more vehicles making their debuts at this automotive fest, including this sports car--it's the newest edition of the bad-ass Lotus Scura. And ladies and gentlemen, this may be the most intimidating Scura ever produced.

Check it out--matte black paint, black stripes, black wheels--it screams darkness and evil; the headlights even seem to stare at you with a sinister gaze. The … Read more

Stealth Computer boasts waterproof desktop

We've seen plenty of ruggedized laptops, but we can't say we heard of a rugged desktop until today's announcement from Stealth Computer. According to Stealth's press release, it built the WPC-500F to the IP67/NEMA 6 standard, which means the system is certified to operate while submersed in water. Assuming the video below from Stealth's Web site is the real thing, it seems to have achieved its goal.

The base WPC-500F unit costs $1,995, and includes six custom-designed cables for power, networking, and peripherals. The core configuration includes a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 33 … Read more

Tech for Less has the PioneerPOS StealthTouch-M5 Celeron- AM5AXR100031 for $980.38, after $184.31 savings.

Save $184.31 on the PioneerPOS StealthTouch-M5 Celeron- AM5AXR100031 from Tech for Less >> Regular price is $1164.69 >> Sale price is $980.38 >> Savings $184.31 (15.82%) >> Click here for deal

Stealth PC perfect for a carputer

If you're building a computer into your car, you probably couldn't do much better than Stealth's new LPC-625F for a platform. This mini PC is about the size of a hardback novel, so could be mounted under seats or behind an interior panel. A fanless design means less noise while keeping dust and dirt from getting into the case--the aluminum case works as a heat sink to cool the processor. The LPC-625F uses a 2.5-inch ruggedized hard drive designed to work in mobile environments, and a solid-state hard drive is available for serious shock resistance. The … Read more

Innovative USB-recording interfaces at NAMM

I didn't imagine there was much room for innovation in USB-recording interfaces, but at the 2009 NAMM show--the annual convention for buyers and sellers of professional music gear (read: music gearhead paradise)--a couple of companies introduced some new takes on this very prosaic, but necessary, piece of gear.

For the uninitiated: A recording interface is the bridge between your musical output and your computer. You attach it to the computer, then plug your instrument (or multiple instruments, or output of a mixing board) into it, and voila. There are countless types of interfaces at all levels of price and complexity, but for home musicians who just want a quick way to get their musical ideas down on their hard drives, an inexpensive USB interface is the way to go. M-Audio is probably the best-known brand at this level, although Tascam and Edirol (part of Roland) are somewhat common as well.

The motorcycle that thinks it's a stealth bomber

Remember how Tom Cruise's flyboy character in Top Gun seemed as at home riding the roadways on a motorcycle as he was jockeying an F-14 in the air?

Maverick is probably the kind of guy Northrop Grumman had in mind when it came up with the "visual centerpiece" of its 20th anniversary celebration of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Actually, the more immediate entertainment industry tie-in is with the TLC series American Chopper--Northrop tapped Orange County Choppers, the Newburgh, N.Y., motorcycle shop behind the TV show, to design and build a bike to do homage … Read more

SlyDial launches mobile apps for easy weasel calls

SlyDial, the telephone service that lets you dial directly to someone's voice mail, has launched three new mobile applications for users on Windows Mobile, Research In Motion's BlackBerry, and Apple's iPhone. The new apps have direct access to your phone's contact list so you can begin a SlyDial call without having to first phone in to the service then remember your contact's number.

All three are free, and with the exception of the iPhone app--which is pending Apple's approval, are available right now. The iPhone version is also the only one of the three … Read more

SlyDial officially launches with premium service, handy shortcuts

SlyDial, a straight-to-voicemail call service I covered back in early April, has opened up its doors to everything this morning after undergoing three months of beta testing. New on Monday is a premium service heavy users can subscribe to in order to get all the perks of the service without having to listen to the in-house ads that run before connecting you to a call. There are a few plans available: either a 15 cents per call one-time fee, or a $4.95 monthly or $29.95 yearly plan, which only makes sense if you think you're going to be sending more than 30 SlyDial calls a month.

More useful might be the new quick-dial functionality included for registered users. You can add any contacts from your phone book and have the service automatically connect you to their voice mailboxes. It saves you from having to enter the number or make a phone call in the first place; it'll simply call you instead.

I still hold true to what I said about SlyDial in my initial hands-on. It's a potentially evil service for people who misuse it (see the guy in the video embedded after the break), giving anyone the excuse that they "tried to call you" without having to approach actual conversation. That said, it can be wonderfully convenient if you want to send someone the equivalent of a voice text message without interrupting what they're doing.

SlyDial is a creation of Mobile Sphere, the same folks who did Joopz, the PC-to-mobile phone text-messaging service and Webware 100 2008 finalist.