It may look like a Prius that’s been vomited on by Mad Max, but the vehicle you see in the clip below is probably Tesla’s long-delayed Model X SUV . You see, when companies begin stress-testing vehicles, they dress them down with a dodgy paint job and go riding out a deserted airfield, like the one at the old naval base in Alameda. No amount of weird paint, however, could disguise the latest all-electric vehicle to roll off the production line, especially one as long-awaited as the X. It’s been a long road, getting from there to here. The Model X was originally announced back in 2012 , but by the start of 2014, issues with the battery meant the date was pushed back to early 2015. Then, back in November , Elon Musk revealed that the company was having difficulty mass producing components for the falcon-winged vehicle, pushing the launch date back to the tail-end of 2015. If the company is feeling bullish enough to let its high-riding whip out in public, then perhaps he’ll make that deadline. It looks like, despite the heftier build, that the Model X will still be mightily fast, let’s just hope that the company puts Insane Mode as a button right on the steering wheel. Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: TechCrunch

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Tesla’s long-delayed Model X SUV is testing in California

If someone asks you to name a Google X Labs moonshot, you’d probably say Glass , self-driving car or maybe even Project Loon . But as you might remember from the WSJD Live conference last year, it also has a flourishing Life Sciences division that employs 100 doctors and scientists, and one of their main projects is a Fitbit-like bracelet that can detect cancer cells . Now, The Atlantic has taken a peek into the division’s headquarters in Mountain View. The publication’s video (below the fold) also explains why the team has to create synthetic human skin mixed with the real thing to cover disembodied arms. See, those arms serve as testers for the Labs’ cancer-detecting bracelet project. For that to make sense, though, you need to understand how the system works: first you’ll need to take pills packed with nanoparticles that circulate throughout the body looking for cancer cells. If they find any, they’ll bind to those cells, which then literally light up. After that, the cell-particle combos make their way underneath the bracelet, since it has a magnet that attracts the nanoparticles. Since the team wants to make sure that an illuminated clump of cancer cells is visible through human skin, they created those practice arms. They’re covered in skin exhibiting different properties (thickness, etc.), as well as skin mimicking those of different ethnicities and skin tones. The bracelet probably won’t be sniffing out cancer in the real world anytime soon, though, so watch the interview for now to see what it’s like inside Google X Labs’ Life Sciences department. Filed under: Science , Google Comments Source: The Atlantic

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Google X Labs made synthetic skin to test a cancer-detecting bracelet

The FCC’s latest wireless auction brought in far more money than anyone expected. The Chairman, Tom Wheeler, set a goal of raising $10.6 billion by selling off 1, 600 licenses to blocks of wireless spectrum. In the end, the government not only blew past its goal, but also its previous record of raising $19.1 billion in 2008, when it auctioned off significant pieces of the 700Mhz band that delivers LTE for a number of carriers. This auction ended with the government raising $44.9 billion, which surprised many observers, especially since even smaller markets like Portland, ME received sizable bids worth tens of millions of dollars. Who won which pieces of spectrum in the 1, 700Mhz and 2, 100Mhz bands is unknown right now, but we do know that 70 different companies and organizations submitted bids. Obvious players were involved, like AT&T and Verizon, but Dish also participated, as did some private equity firms, like Grain Management LLC. Interestingly, Sprint sat this one out, though the company does have what the Wall Street Journal calls , “largest stores of spectrum” in the industry. Part of the reason people were shocked by the high price tag, is that these higher frequencies are actually considered less valuable than lower bands. That’s largely because they’re unable to cover as much distance or penetrate buildings as easily. But, since they’re able to carry large amounts of data over short distances, they can be very useful in cities. Hopefully we’ll have more information about who won what soon, but for now lets just enjoy the cash windfall for the government and the American tax payer. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Wireless , Verizon , AT&T Comments Source: Wall Street Journal

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Government raked in $44.9 billion from wireless auction

Microsoft has released new Outlook apps for iOS and Android, and they might just be light-years better than those web apps the company has unleashed in the past. See, these are the result of Redmond’s Accompli acquisition in December, and seeing as we liked that startup’s email app when we test drove it last year, we have high hopes for these new ones. The company says the new Outlook for the mobile platforms comes with a built-in calendar and makes attachments easier to add for higher productivity. They’re apparently more tightly integrated with Office apps and Outlook for desktop, as well. We can’t say whether they’ll truly blow your current email apps out of the water as we haven’t tested them yet, but you can find out for yourself by downloading either (or both) from iTunes or Google Play . Take note that the Android app’s just a preview at the moment, so Microsoft could still tweak its features for the final version. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Microsoft Comments

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Microsoft’s new Outlook apps for iOS and Android promise higher productivity

High-tech cards that store all your credit, gift and loyalty card info haven’t exactly made it big yet, but the competition’s already heating up. The newest entry in the race is called Swyp: a metallic device with a screen that transforms into the card you want to use when you need it, so long as you choose the appropriate one using its scroll buttons. In order to upload info, you’ll need to scan credit cards and loyalty cards with magnetic strips (support for scannable barcodes will come later) using a reader that plugs into a phone’s headphone jack. Each card’s details are then stored in the accompanying app, which you can also use to snap pictures of paper receipts. The device itself can store up to 25 cards’ info, more than what its rivals can handle: Coin , its oldest competition, can store up to 8 cards, while Plastc can keep up to 20. According to The Verge , Swyp was designed to deactivate if your phone detects that the card is more than six feet away, though there’s a way to override that if you’re, say, paying at a restaurant. Its creator, Ash Dhodapkar, also told the publication that Swyp will have a rechargeable battery (Coin, on the other hand does not — you’ll have to toss it when it runs out of juice), though it’s unclear if it will work with wireless chargers. It lacks a bunch of other features found on Plastc, including chip-and-pin technology, as well as NFC support, but it is loads cheaper than the competition (Coin costs $100, while Plastc is $150). A small number of Swype cards are now up for pre-order for $49 per, but once those are all gone, you’ll have to pay $99 to get one when it launches this fall. Filed under: Misc Comments Via: The Verge Source: Swyp

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Swyp is yet another one-card wallet vying for your attention

Snowmageddon might not be all that fun those experiencing it on the East Coast, but it could well be affecting the rest of us too. Starting around 1am ET, Facebook and Instagram were both inaccessible, as well as apps that require FB credentials. Tinder, for exmaple, also went down in the process — globally. (We saw problems accessing servers across the US, Europe and Asia.) We’ve also seen Hipchat and, er, AIM also knocked offline at the same time. Snow in the servers? Or maybe it was a DDoS attack? We don’t know just yet. Facebook and Instagram have just come back after an hour. Interestingly, as TechCrunch noted , Facebook’s other app, WhatsApp went strong through out. Filed under: Internet , Facebook Comments

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Facebook and Instagram get knocked offline… for about an hour