Inkless / tonerless printers aren't exactly new, but here's a more novel approach: inkless, tonerless, and completely reusable. The PrePeat rewritable printer is exactly that: using special paper made of PET plastic, you can make all the flowcharts and meeting notes you need, and when you want to start fresh, feed the paper back in to start fresh. Upfront cost is 500,000 yen (about $5,600 in US) for the printer and 300 yen for each sheet, in lots of 1,000 -- which we're taking to mean at least another 300,000 yen / $3,360 to get some use out of it. Each piece of paper is said to work about 1,000 times, but no word on how much (if any) history can be extracted from the materials -- just keep that in mind should sensitive information be your daily trade. Video demonstration after the break.

Continue reading PrePeat rewritable printer lets you undo print jobs, no ink or toner used

PrePeat rewritable printer lets you undo print jobs, no ink or toner used originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, Google's Superbowl ad was cute and left us giggling, but how would a French romance powered by Google really go? [UCB—Thanks, Mackenzie!]

HTC Dragon and friends turn up on Dopod roadmap originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/H8rHarp1GEE&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );If you're a huge space buff, you might not be surprised by anything in this video tour of the International Space Station. But it's still great to just get a simple walkthrough of this incredible project and all its corners.

Anyone else get a bit bit light-headed watching all those twists and turns? [CrunchGear]

Apple's hiring again and this time they're looking for "Performance QA Engineers" in their "iPad Media" department. Based on the description for the job, we might be seeing an increase in iPad camera rumors:

The Media Systems team is looking for a software quality engineer with a strong technical background to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks. Build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines.

Based on the demand for someone to work on video capture frameworks for a device which can't even capture video we could presume that Apple's exploring some future options. As if we didn't already think that. [Apple via MacRumors]

Allegedly Google plans to feature the interiors of participating retail stores on Google Maps. Because, well, I'm not really sure why. Something to do with controlling the world though, that's a given.

The report comes from Search Engine Land, which was contacted by a New York company called Oh Nuts. Apparently the almond-monger recently got a visit from camera-toting Google guys, who photographed their entire store, six feet at a time, in every direction. So essentially, you'd be able to see a storefront in Street View, click on it, and check out the interior for inventory, cleanliness, layout, etc.

Interesting, Google, but you know what would be even more helpful? Live webcams in Victoria's Secret dressing rooms. That would be huge. And speaking of huge -- go ahead and throw some in the plus-size stores as well. I LIKE 'EM THICK! I'm serious -- if I can't stand comfortably in one leg of a woman's panties I....throw that pair back and try another dryer. Google Wants to Add Store Interiors to Maps [gizmodo] Thanks to Craig, who's only interested in pet store cams. Keep the tips coming, Craig!

Dear Nokia fan clinging on to all hope that the 5230 and Nuron were two separate entities, whereby you'd have even more Espoo devices to look forward to: you're wrong. TmoNews has picked up what's purported to be another internal T-Mobile documentation for the 5230 Nuron. Like the previously-rumored leak, it's said to be going on sale on March 17 with a 3.2-inch touchscreen, on-screen keyboard, and Ovi Store. Oh, and just in case you weren't sure if you fit the target audience, see if you qualify as "connected socializers, 20 to 40 years old, who are new to the touch screen category." That's gotta count for at least a few readers out there.

[Thanks, Alex]

Nokia Nuron spotted again, connection to 5230 cemented? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/052l5ESJDKQ&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); I hate spiders, I hate horror movies, and I hate gimmicky computer cases. But I love the commercial for the Lian Li Mini-atx case. Maybe it's just because it reminded me of Steve Irwin.

There aren't details on availability and pricing for this case, but who cares when the promo video alone is fun. [CrunchGear]

We'll admit to not being leading the field of study in Best Buy-ology, but here comes a new quiz for us care of a tipster who sent TUAW a screenshot of the inventory screen that shows what looks to be the current MacBook Pro SKU with status: deleted. What that means is no new orders can be made for that unit, at least for that particular store. Sign of impending MBP refresh? Intel certainly had us riled up last month with that Core i5-infused flier, but we won't get fooled again. Don't hold your breath for this one, but if more telltale signs start popping up, we'll be sure let ya know.

Update: Giving credit where due; the image originates from the MacRumors forums.

[Thanks, Jose R]

Current MacBook Pro SKU given mark of death in Best Buy database? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some folks decided to study the calling habits of 5.3 million people over an 18-month period. 350 million phone calls later, they came to an almost obvious conclusion: Prepaid cellphone users make and return fewer calls than their postpaid counterparts.

You can click on the image to take a closer look at the graphs.

Initially the study done at the Aalto University School of Science and Technology, Finland, was intended to analyze reciprocity—the likelihood of an individual receiving as many calls in return as he or she makes. But during the course of the research, a clear difference was discovered in the calling habits of prepaid and postpaid users:

Postpaid users tend to be more prolific, having on average 5.41 people they call. Prepaid users, by contrast, have only 3.41 contacts on average (although the notion of "average" is a little strange here since there is a very long tail on these distributions).

Postpaid users also made about 10 times as many calls as prepaid users while 25 percent of prepaid users had odd relationships in which "one participant makes more than 80 percent of all calls."

Technology Review suggests that the differences in calling habits could be explained by the fact that prepaid users are more likely to be younger individuals, but I'd go as far as considering that the unlimited mobile-to-mobile or weekend benefits of postpaid plans may play a role as well. [Technology Review via NY Times Bits]