alpha

Video: Tesla's Model S Alpha sedan hits the track

Tesla has released yet another preview video of its upcoming Model S electric sedan. This time, rather than a single Model S blasting down a back road, a trio of camouflaged Alpha sedans have a go at a track to collect data for the Beta sedan, which is the next step in the Model S' development. Normally one of the coolest parts of checking out a track testing video is hearing the roar of the engine, but the Model S is all electric and all silent, so you'll have to make due with the sound of wooshing wind and … Read more

Sony Alpha NEX-C3 review: A sort of compact compact

Now in its second generation, the NEX line has proven to be popular; I generally liked the NEX-5 (we never reviewed the NEX-3), thanks to excellent photo quality and an attractive, compact design, though I still think the line is a bit expensive for people seeking to upgrade from a point-and-shoot.

The C3 incorporates an unnecessarily higher-resolution sensor than both the earlier models, bumping from about 14 megapixels to 16. It's not, however, the same 16-megapixel sensor that's in older models like the SLT-A55. At least the photo quality doesn't suffer from the resolution increase, and given … Read more

Astronauts attach cosmic ray detector to space station

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--The Endeavour astronauts installed a $2 billion cosmic ray detector on the International Space Station today, a powerful magnet surrounded by a complex array of sensors that will study high-energy particles from the depths of space and time to look for clues about the formation and evolution of the universe.

"Thank you very much for the great ride and safe delivery of AMS to the station," radioed Sam Ting, the Nobel laureate who has managed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer project for more than 15 years. "Your support and fantastic work have taken us … Read more

Endeavour glides to 'silky-smooth' station docking

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--With commander Mark Kelly at the controls, the shuttle Endeavour caught up with the International Space Station early today, looping under and then ahead of the lab complex before gliding back to a "silky smooth" docking at the station's forward port at 6:14 a.m. EDT.

"Houston and station, capture's confirmed," pilot Gregory Johnson radioed as the two spacecraft sailed through orbital darkness 220 miles above the south Pacific Ocean.

Inside the space station, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli rang the ship's bell in a traditional naval … Read more

Opera Next makes it easier to get 'dev'

A significant update to the Opera browser's Speed Dial feature launched today in Opera 11.50 alpha (download), along with Opera Next, which includes a mechanism that makes it easier for Opera fans to automatically download under-construction builds of the browser. Opera Next will install separately and alongside the "stable" release of Opera, sporting a silver Opera logo much like Google Chrome Canary is visually distinct from the other versions of Chrome with its all-yellow icon.

The new version of Speed Dial introduces support for Speed Dial-specific extensions. Originally developed by Opera, and now in use in … Read more

Opera: Full cross-platform hardware acceleration coming

Hardware acceleration has become the holy grail of browser development in the past year, as the technology to increase browser performance by tapping graphics cards to help with Web site rendering has advanced from the theoretical to the practical. Despite Opera being a longtime developer and advocate of hardware acceleration standards, and the first major browser maker to demonstrate hardware acceleration in use, no publicly released version of Opera included the technology--until today.

Opera 11.50 (direct download) is a rough alpha, unstable, not for daily use, and limited to Windows computers, but it does have hardware acceleration. This means … Read more

Resize photos for free with Apple's Preview

One of the unsung heroes of Apple's Mac OS X is the simple, yet incredibly powerful, Preview application. Using Preview, you can easily adjust your photos and get them ready for print, projects, and sharing. And best of all, it comes free on every Mac, bundled with OS X.

Many tips floating around the Internet will suggest using Adobe's Photoshop or Photoshop Elements to accomplish tasks like resizing and adjusting image resolution. Though these applications are great solutions, they can also be costly and somewhat complicated for new users. Photoshop can run as high as $199 for the … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1407: BOL Computer Love special (podcast)

It's Valentine's Day, everyone, so we've got a special edition of Computer Love with special guest Dr. Wendy Walsh dishing out the love 2.0 advice. Also, in the tech news, the worst-kept secret in the tech world is unveiled in Barcelona: the PlayStation Phone. Plus, 10-inch tablets creep out of the woodwork to take on the iPad -- finally -- and will an iPhone Nano make an appearance? --Molly

Ken Olsen, founder of DEC, dead at 84

Ken Olsen, co-founder of the defining technology company of a bygone era, Digital Equipment Corporation, has died. He was 84.

A spokeswoman for Gordon College in Massachusetts, where Olsen was a trustee and prominent donor, confirmed Monday evening Twitter reports of his death on Sunday. Olsen's company dominated the minicomputer era of the tech industry from the 1960s through the 1980s with the PDP and VAX series computers, and was a key part of the famed Route 128 technology corridor just outside Boston, along with companies like Data General and Wang.

"Ken Olsen is in the elite club … Read more

Tesla Model S Alpha shows off for the camera

Tesla Motors, manufacturer of the Roadster electric sports car and supplier of EV components, has released information about its upcoming Model S sedan's development cycle.

Tesla is breaking the S' preproduction testing into two phases, alpha and beta. Within each phase the automaker will be building multiple test mules as it attempts to home in on its targeted performance, range, and crash safety. Tesla also notes that the Alpha development phase has been in progress since last year, quoting its Vehicle Dynamicist Graham Sutherland when he states, "The first Alpha is amazingly agile for a car of its … Read more