Axis

In today's show, we ponder a world with an iPen, lose our addiction to Draw Something, and tilt our heads to the Axis:

Yahoo has launched a new tool for searching the Web, called Yahoo Axis. This is not a browser, but rather a plug-in that attaches to your desktop browser, and it's also an app for Apple devices. So why use it? It's supposed to be a faster way to comb through search results. Start typing in your search term, and a horizontal bar will showcase thumbnail previews of websites you can jump to. Also, searches … Read more

Now that the Internet isn't flooded with Facebook IPO news, we can move on to more breaking news, like Hollywood finally answering our prayers for a Hook prequel that tells the Rufio origin story.

That's right, the original actor who played Rufio, Dante Basco, recently announced in an interview that a Rufio prequel film is in the works under the directing eye of Rpin Suwannath. Maybe we'll finally get to the bottom of how he got those fabulous red tights.… Read more

Yahoo made its first foray into the browser business this evening, but did it give us an unfinished product?

As my colleague Rafe Needleman explains, Axis is an aggressive product designed to eliminate the middleman in the usual search process and take visitors from query process straight to the desired page.

However, this doesn't appear to be the only step Yahoo skipped; the struggling Internet pioneer also left out an explanation of its terms of service. A search for those basic rules turns up a placeholder page that informs users:"Terms will go here."

Granted, most users … Read more

Yahoo is announcing tonight that it's getting into the browser business with its new Axis browser. There are versions for iPad and iPhone, and plug-ins for the desktop browsers Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari.

The design goal, according to Ethan Batraski, head of product for the Search Innovation Group at Yahoo, is to eliminate the middle step in the usual Web search process: Enter a query, see the results, go to a page. With Axis, you're supposed to be able to go directly from query to page, skipping the step of surfing a sea of links.

The implication … Read more

Typically, cost is the driving concern when choosing one renewable energy technology over another. But a pair of studies that consider land use give the edge to niche forms of solar and wind power generation.

Caltech researcher John Dabiri, a professor of aeronautics and bioengineering, this week presented results of a test that found that vertical-axis wind turbines have the potential to generate more power per square meter than the propeller-like, three-blade wind turbines. The key is that vertical-axis turbines can be placed close together without creating the type of wind disturbances that would sap performance of traditional turbines.

Dabiri … Read more

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of the Scion FR-S concept unveiled at the 2011 New York auto show. Journalistic objectivity aside, that car is hot! When I heard that Five Axis, the team that built the concept for Scion, was entering an FR-S into the 2011 Red Bull Soapbox Race in downtown Los Angeles, I had to check it out.

What came out of the build process was a tube framed, super deformed FR-S micro-car with space for a single driver. Power is provided by two men who push the FR-S; gravity takes over as … Read more

Cogentrix Energy has been granted a $90.6 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to build a 30-megawatt concentrated photovoltaic solar plant in Alamosa, Colo., the company announced yesterday

The company also said it plans to source a minimum of 80 percent of the solar farm components from within the U.S. That promise is significant given the size and scope of the solar farm, and its technology.

The Alamosa Solar Generating Project will be the largest solar project in the world using high concentrated photovoltaics (HCPVs) with a dual-axis tracking system. That means that each concentrated … Read more

I am not the type who's well-prepared (my fridge is almost always empty), nor do I want to scare people into getting things that they don't really need.

However, I ran across the American Red Cross Axis from Eton the other day and thought it was a really handy device to have around the house, or in your car.

It's hard to classify the Eton Axis as one specific type of device because it's many things in one. It's a radio (AM/FM/NOAA Weather), a flashlight, and a cell phone charger. Best of all, … Read more

Alltel has just announced the LG Axis, the carrier's version of the LG Ally that was previously released on Verizon Wireless.

Like the Ally, it has a 3.2-inch touch-screen display in addition to a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It unfortunately ships with Android 2.1, which is a little behind current firmware. Features include a 3.2-megapixel camera and of course the usual Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. It will be available for $89.99 after rebate.