military

V-Moda refines the sound design of last year's original Crossfade LP DJ headphones with a refresh that offers customized ear plates, dual 50mm drivers, and a tough backbone enforced under strict military testing.

For this version, V-Moda displays its newest Live Play sonic signature developed using a 31-band equalizer to ensure a clean space, free of artificial sound spikes. The guts are built around a driver diaphragm model with a hard inner ring that pumps mids and highs, while a softer outer ring on top extends the bass line for harder punches.

V-Moda takes precautions to protect the Crossfade LP2s so you don't have to. The headphones adhere to the military's MIL-STD-810G hardened guidelines and will likely outlive everything else in your DJ bag thanks to a Kevlar wrapped detachable cable, a headband that can bend completely flat, and the shell's resistance to humidity, salt spray, and UV exposure.

The company is also offering customers a chance to personalize their gear with a custom ear shield program that lets you select between 12 colors of interchangeable shields- if you ask nicely, V-Moda will even etch your artwork onto the sides, anything from your name, company, sports team logo, or personal artwork.

The V-Moda Crossfade LP2 headphones are available now for $199.

More pictures after the break.… Read more

Panasonic has some good news for the kinds of people who worry about using their tablets in the rain, dropping them on a concrete floor, or using them outdoors in the desert.

The company announced yesterday that it plans to sell two models of rugged Android tablets under the Toughpad brand name starting in 2012. The 10-inch, $1,299 Toughpad A1 will arrive first, in the spring, and the 7-inch Toughpad B1 later in the year.

Panasonic isn't aiming the Toughpads at the average consumer, but rather to various business users such as utility crews on the road, military … Read more

A virus that keeps a log of what people type has found a persistent foothold in the computers that pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada use to remotely control the U.S. military's unmanned drone aircraft, Wired reported today.

It's not clear whether the virus was deliberately aimed at the military computers or whether it got there through the general spread of infectious malware, "but the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech's computers," Wired reported, citing three unnamed sources.

The Defense Department declined to comment on the matter.

Wired … Read more

It's no secret to anyone following green tech that the Department of Defense has taken a particular interest in advanced biofuels, vehicle fuel efficiency, renewable energy, and building efficiency. But many may not realize to what extent the DOD has changed its policy, or the large impact this shift is going to have on the economy, according to a report released yesterday afternoon by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The report (PDF) asserts that the DOD is one of the world's largest institutional consumers of fossil fuels, consuming 300,000 barrels of oil a day in 2009. The DOD's energy cost for 2010 was $15.2 billion (PDF) … Read more

Raytheon this morning said that it has passed a major milestone in its bid to win a multi-billion dollar U.S. Navy radar contract.

The Tewksbury, Massachusetts military contract is currently competing against Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman for the lucrative contract to provide next-generation Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) technology for the Navy's Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. As part of its efforts to win the deal, Raytheon has just surpassed 1,000 hours of degradation-free testing on its Gallium Nitride transmit/receive modules. Completing the 1,000 hours of testing, during which the modules were said to have … Read more

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries factories that build guided missiles and rocket engines; submarines; and nuclear-power equipment have had their computer networks hacked, according to a report.

The Reuters news agency said Japanese newspaper Yomiuri reported that information from Mitsubishi's computer system was stolen in the attack. A representative of the company confirmed the attack, Reuters reported, but said the company was still looking into whether any data had been taken.

The Yomiuri report said about 80 infected computers were found at Mitsubishi headquarters in Tokyo and various facilities in other areas of Japan, according to Reuters.

When Army National Guardsman Ed Salau's Bradley Fighting Vehicle filled with smoke on November 15, 2004--"sometime after George Bush declared victory on the aircraft carrier and sometime before we won the war in Iraq," he likes to say--Salau and his gunner managed to crawl out of the hatch.

The first thing that hit them was that they'd somehow managed to survive two rocket-propelled grenades that had been fired at their vehicle. But Salau's leg seemed to dangle and flop below him. With the battle still raging around him, he grabbed the radioman's belt … Read more

Army Sniper puts you behind the scope of a standard-issue U.S. Army sniper rifle, which you must use to pick off enemy troops from afar. Without your long-distance support, your unit has no chance of accomplishing its critical counter-terrorist mission.

Army Sniper's controls are extremely simple. Tap anywhere in the vicinity of an enemy to engage the scope. Then, tilt your mobile device around in space to adjust your aim. Tap the button on the right to shoot, the button on the left to slow your movements and make finer adjustments in your targeting, or anywhere else to … Read more

Samsung unveils the Galaxy S II and Epic 4G Touch smartphones, Google offers free calls to the U.S. for American soldiers through Gmail, and HP will bring back the TouchPad for one final, short production run.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded: