Amazon Unveils Kindle “Fire” Tablet. Android, 7″ Display, $199

Can the myriad of Android tablets already on the market feel the heat (bad pun) from Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablet? At $199 it’s far cheaper than pretty much all of the competition and yet still runs powerful (customized) version of Android. Specs include a dual-core processor, 7″ IPS display, WiFi (no 3G version) and a free month of Amazon Prime.

Pre-orders start today. Ships November 15th.

The Hottest Smartphones on the Market — Literally. [Fire]

Some will cry foul and decry how the above depicts a senseless act of destruction. And to the gadget-loving side of me, I agree. I would gladly pay the associated costs to rescue the three desperados stranded on the metallica lake of fire above. But alas, it is too late. The deed has been done and the hardware…cooked (I couldn’t resist).

You might as well hop inside and see which phone lasts the longest. Don’t forget the tissue and a beer…you’ll need something to cry into…

One Less Mouth to Feed: Engineer Who Leaked Google’s Pay Raise/Bonus Email Gets Fired.

Remember those lucky Google employees we talked about a couple days back, regarding the company-wide pay raises and holiday bonuses? Well, Google is still planning on doling out the promised cash. The engineer who leaked the email from Eric Schmidt himself, isn’t so lucky. Apparently, this was a “confidential” confidential email. According to CNN’s David Goldman, a few hours after the Google pay raise/bonus story went viral, Google execs sent out a follow-up email stating that they had already identified and fired the source of the leak.

While I understand the email specifically stated “confidential”, as All Thing D’s Peter Kafka points out, the news was fare better than the typical corporate-based layoff-laden news that has filled the airwaves the last few months. So in that light, it’s slightly surprising that Google canned the guy over something that doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Though, as you can imagine, if the source was willing to leak the good news, I’m sure the bad wouldn’t be too far behind if/when it developed.

The real irony however, is that Google is a company who loves consumer data. And time and time again they have brushed off consumers’ fears concerning their privacy (or lack thereof). But now that the privacy/confidentiality issue is focused back on them, they’re not so kosher and nonchalant about it.

The Twin-tubo V-12, flame throwing Murcielago SV by Underground Racing.

Not a car blog. I know. But who’s going to hate on an 1,100 horsepower (on pump gas, 1,300 with racing gas) twin-turbo V-12 Murcielago SV that not only rockets down the road, but spews fire on downshifts? Yeah, not many people. It’s a nice addition to an already beautiful car that isn’t overly tacky or gaudy. The gear head buffet is provided by Underground Racing. The particular package that you see the after effects of costs an eye melting $129,000 on top of the Murcielago’s already $200,000+ sticker price. Wow…

Hop inside for a short video showing the hot stuff in action…

Best band camp ever: The Flamethrowing Trombone.

If you happen to know Jonathon Crawford, cherish those moments when you are with him. He’s a freaking genius. When life hands you bananas, make a flamethrowing trombone out of them. In all reality, it’s nothing too fancy — a few odds and ends including a typical trombone, propane tank, barbeque ignition system, and temperature sensor. When assembled together, however, the Flame throwing trombone of hell is born. I promise you, whichever school incorporates this into half time shows will be the school in the news. Hands down. Can you top it? Hop inside for the video showing the paint melting, fire alarming flame throwing trombone…

BMW fire squelching motorcycles coming to a fire station near you?

The next time you see a car on fire off to the side of the road, picture a motorcycle or two hurtling towards the chaos to save the day instead of your typical gargantuan firetruck. That’s the goal of a test pilot program using some tweaked BMW motorcycles anyway. Weighing at £30,000 (that’s $46,000 USD to those living in the land of red, white, and blue), the bikes are far from cheap. Though in their defense, brand new firetrucks are well north of the six figure mark. So on the surface, it seems like a deal.

But how useful would a bike be in a fire? The fires these road warriors will conquer are only that of small car fires and other “brush fires” that aren’t an immediate danger to surrounding individuals or buildings, as obviously, a building would need a ton of firepower — more-so than a simple bike can provide. But their use seems to be taking off, with countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Turkey all employing at least a couple fire bikes of their own.

Speaking of fire power, the BMW-built bikes feature (2) 25-liter cannisters filled with water and foam, good for a solid three minutes of use. According to BMW however, the bikes are capable of putting out your standard car fire in as little as 20 seconds, so the seemingly small firefighting capacity isn’t actually that bad. Furthermore, specially trained drivers donned in fire resistant suits and helmets are the only ones allowed to pilot the two-wheeled machines.

It’s easy to understand that smaller fires are much more prevalent than say a five alarm gigantor fire that would require a dozen or more fire engines from multiple stations. With that said, these bikes could be an awesome tool for fire stations around the country. Hopefully the testing at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service goes well and they decide to pick a few up. You never know, the next time you turn and look, you could be seeing one hurtling towards a fire yourself.

Comcast loves being #1…worst company in America that is.

If you weren’t familiar with Consumerist, let me toot their horn. It’s a great site that calls out companies in America for shady tactics with the only aim of righting the wrongs. However often that actually plays out doesn’t matter so much as the thought behind the whole shebang. Anyway, the point I am leading to is that Consumerist holds a contest each year that gives readers full discretion of choosing the worst company in America. And wouldn’t you know it, a Gadgetsteria frequent topic — Comcast — took home the gold…

The end is near: Frosty the Fire Breathing Snowman to mame and melt everything in sight.

If there were any doubt in your mind that global warming global cooling climate change wasn’t an immediate threat to humanity, I have one thing that should instantly re-instill fear into the depths of your soul — Frost the Fire Breathing Snowman.

Gone forever are the childhood memories of dear sweet frosty, the glistening of freshly fallen snow, and the smell of Auntie’s hot-out-of-the-oven chocolate cookies. Instead, all of it will be replaced with the destruction and utter chaos that Frosty the Firey Snowman will levy on the human race. Godspeed everyone.

**PS: I want one.

Video

Gizmodo > Baltimore Sun

G1 and MyTouch 3G pushed to 780MHz and 1GHz. Nuclear explosion soon thereafter…

The Motorola DROID may be stealing a majority of the rooted Android articles with things such as 2.1 goodies ported over or 1GHz overclocking, but it’s hardly the only kid at the playground. The G1 and MyTouch 3G may be older, slower, and generally less desirable when compared to the likes of the DROID and Nexus One, but those aging devices still have some kick left in them.

Thanks to Eugene373 over at xda-forums, the MT3G (read: MyTouch 3G/HTC Magic) and G1 have been overclocked just like their bigger, hairier chested brother, to the tune of 780MHz. When pushed further, those old bucket of bolts even managed pinging the 1GHz bell.

The DROID at 1GHz is ominous enough, running at almost 2x the rated clock speed. But that ARM A8 in the DROID is a newer, more power efficient chip. The processor in both the MyTouch 3G and G1 is an older, less power efficient ARM A11. Pushing that to 1GHz is just begging for trouble, and at the very least, melted skin.

Still, the geek in me yearns to try it out. If only I had some older Android hardware to try it on… Thats where you come in. If you don’t mind voiding your warranty and risking the life of your precious Android beauty, overclock that thing and report back to us with the results.

• Overclocking the G1 and MyTouch 3G — xda-forums

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