Double Barrel Pistol

Arsenal Firearms' Double Barrel Pistol shoots two bullets at once

One full payload from the AF2011-A1 can deliver in three seconds what would take a regular 9mm pistol almost ten times as long to fire, including reloading

It's been a popular design for shotguns for over a century, so why not handguns? With a design that looks like two guns were melted together, the new handgun from Arsenal Firearms is definitely a handful. Thanks to the gun's dual barrels though, the AF2011-A1 Double Barrel Pistol is capable of firing 16 rounds in a span of three seconds by shooting two bullets at the same time.

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Arsenal Firearms produced the double-barreled handgun to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Colt 1911-A1, which has been the preferred sidearm of the U.S. Military since World War II. This certainly isn't the first double barrel pistol ever made, but it is the first .45 caliber, semiautomatic one built to industrial specifications.

Aside from the separate barrels, the rest of the AF2011-A1 is made of conjoined parts, so that it uses a single slide, grip, and safety. It can however be customized to use a single trigger or two separate triggers, so the left and right barrel can be fired independently. Most of the internal parts - firing pins, springs, housings, etc. - are actually interchangeable with standard Colt 1911 parts. The pistol holds 16 .45 ACP rounds split between two columns, which connect to a single base plate and can be loaded like a single magazine.

Arsenal says the gun can be handled like any other .45 caliber handgun and is surprisingly accurate, considering its non-traditional design. At 15 yards (13.7 m) from a target, all 16 bullets will group in an area about the size of an orange; at 25 yards (22.8 m), that area grows to about the size of a watermelon. The dual barrels also pack quite a punch, with two bullets making up 460 grains of weight hitting a target one to two inches apart from each other, depending on the distance. That means one full payload from the AF2011-A1 can deliver in three seconds what would take a regular 9 mm pistol almost ten times as long to fire, including reloading.

Check out the video below to watch Dimitry Streshinskiy, co-creator of the AF2011-A1 Double Barrel Pistol, demonstrate the handgun by firing a fully loaded magazine.

iPad 3

Apple unveils the iPad 3

Apple's new iPad3 goes on sale March 16

Apple's anxiously-awaited third generation iPad was introduced in San Francisco today, with a host of upgrades and additions including a bright new Retina display driven by an A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5-megapixel iSight camera and now, full 1080p HD video capture capability. With both Wi-Fi-only and 4G models, the new iPad 3 can connect to numerous speedy networks such as the 4G LTEs offered by AT&T and Verizon, and it still offers up to 10 hours of battery life.

The iPad 3's new Retina display boasts 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution (four times the number offered by iPad 2 screens and more than a million greater than HD TV offers). At 264 pixels per inch (ppi), the density is so great our eyes are unable to discern individual pixels when viewed from a normal distance. The result? Video, images, web pages and text appear especially sharp and realistic. A 44 percent increase in color saturation also enhances the viewing experience - Apple says the display simply looks deeper, richer and more vivid than that offered by previous models. With its now full 1080p HD video resolution, viewing movies on the iPad 3 is also appreciably improved.

The new iPad3 will be available in black or white

To augment the Retina display's functionality, Apple designed its new A5X chip with double the graphics performance of the previous A5. This welcome upgrade better balances performance and power efficiency to ensure a smoother response from the Multi-Touch interface, while improving immersive gameplay and still offering all-day battery life.

Grabbing great video and stills will be noticeably easier with the new image-stabilized 5-megapixel iSight camera. Its advanced optics, coupled with backside illumination, will allow decent imaging, even in low-light conditions. Budding photogs can also use the newly announced iPhoto for iPad app to edit, enhance and share still shots with others - which is likely to take a bite out of Adobe's sales of its recently released Photoshop touch app.

To make the iPad 3 more "world ready," its Wi-Fi + 4G with built-in next-gen 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) offers enhanced support for rapid networks globally, including HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) - however Australians should note that the iPad 3 isn't compatible with Telstra's 4G network. Additionally, both CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) iPad users now have access to international roaming.

Boosted upload and download speeds are designed to make short work of pulling down graphics-heavy websites and emails with large attachments. With an optional supporting data plan, a feature called Personal Hotspot can be used to connect up to 5 other devices with your iPad via fast network connections using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB.

With iOS 5.1, which Apple claims to be the "world's most advanced mobile operating system," the iPad 3 sports a number of new functions and improvements: a reconfigured Camera app with a video stabilizer; support for English, French, German and Japanese dictation; compatibility with numerous iCloud services e.g. iTunes in the Cloud, Photo Stream and Documents in the Cloud; and extensive updates to iMovie, GarageBand and iPhoto to name a few.

In iPhoto, Multi-Touch will allow the easy sorting of photos and image retouching using fingertip brushes and iCloud photo journal sharing. In iMovie, you'll now be able to generate Hollywood-style trailers while recording HD video, and GarageBand will now come with a feature called Jam Session, which will allow a group of friends to play instruments and record music live while wirelessly connected on their iOS devices. Additionally, the iPad 3 can run almost every one of the 585,000 apps sold by the App Store, which adds an incredible amount of functionality to its already appreciable capability.

The bigger internal battery in the new iPad also results in slightly different dimensions and weight compared to the previous models. The Wi-Fi model weighs 652 g (1.44 lb) and the Wi-Fi + 4G 662 g (1.46 lb), compared to the iPad 2's 601 g (1.33 lb) to 607 g (1.34 lb). Dimension-wise it is 9.4 mm (0.37 in) thick to the iPad 2's 8.8 mm (0.34 in) - meaning anyone upgrading might also have to shell out for a new case, which is sure to please the hordes of third party case manufacturers. However, the width and height of the device are the same as the iPad 2, so Apple's Smart Cover and many slide in folio-style cases will also work fine with the iPad 3.

In all, there appears to be quite a lot to like in this new iteration of what, to some folks, in only two years, has already become an essential device for connected living. It's safe to assume that Apple will continue to grab a major share of the tablet market with their stylish and capable new iPad 3.

Pricing and Availability Info:

Beginning March 16, the new black and white iPads, still thin and light, will go for US$499 (16GB), $599 (32GB) and $699 for the 64GB model. Starting today, March 7, the iPad 2 drops to a more affordable $399 for those who can somehow resist that urge to acquire the latest and greatest.

For Wi-Fi + 4G equipped models (either AT+T or Verizon), suggested retail is $629 (16GB), $729 (32GB) and $829 for the 64GB model. The iPad 3 will also be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands on Friday, March 16.

Samsung Galaxy Beam projector phone

Samsung shows off latest Galaxy Beam projector phone

The Galaxy Beam is a smartphone with its own built-in pico projector

Samsung has officially unveiled an updated version of the Galaxy Beam, a smartphone with its own built-in pico projector. The biggest feature of the phone as you might guess is its ability to project pictures, video, and other media onto walls, ceilings or any other flat surface via a 15 lumens projector that Samsung says can display images up to 50-inches wide.

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Samsung originally showed off the Galaxy Beam at Mobile World Congress in 2010. At the time, the Android handset was only slated to make an appearance in Singapore. This year's announcement brings an updated version of the handset sporting Android 2.3 Gingerbread, and while release details have yet to be announced, the phone will likely be available in a few additional countries.

The 2010 version of the Beam came running Android v2.1, had a 3.7-inch screen, and a 9 lumens projector. The updated 2012 version shown off at Mobile World Congress 2011 comes running Android v2.3, has a 4-inch screen, and comes rocking a much more powerful 15 lumens projector.

The projector is the stand-out feature of the phone. Beyond that, you're looking at your standard run-of-the-mill Android handset. The phone has a 5-megapixel built-in camera, and has a 1GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of internal memory, and a 2000mAh battery.

Samsung has yet to announce pricing or availability for the 2012 Galaxy Beam.

8 GB iPad 2

Could Apple be launching an 8 GB iPad 2 next week?

Rumors abound of an 8 GB iPad 2 being announced next week

Could Apple be releasing an 8 GB iPad 2 next week? According to a DigiTimessource, Cupertino will be launching a new smaller-capacity iPad 2 at its event March 7 alongside the the new iPad 3. According to the source, Apple will be releasing a 16 GB and 32 GB iPad 3 and an 8 GB iPad in order to compete with more budget priced offerings from other tablet manufacturers.

Apple has previously used a similar strategy with its iPhone line, discontinuing the larger-capacity versions of the previous handsets while still offering or launching a cheaper lower-capacity model.

While Apple has never offered an iPad with anything below 16 GB of storage, doing so isn't that far out of the realm of possibility. With inexpensive competition such as the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet hitting the market, Apple needs to make an effort to hit the less affluent tablet-buying population. What better way to do that than to sell a lower-capacity iPad 2?

Taking into account that the iPad 2 would technically be the "older model," and Apple could conceivably sell the an 8 GB WiFi iPad 2 for $399 or less. A $399 price tag, while still higher than a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, would still put Apple in a great position to snag some customers who might have otherwise gone with a less-expensive competitor.

What's also interesting about the DigitTimes rumor is that it implies Apple will only be selling a 16 GB and 32 GB version of the iPad 3, getting rid of the 64 GB version of the tablet. Assuming the rumor is true, Apple may be making that move in order to promote its iCloud service, which allows customers to store and access some content from the cloud.

The iPad 3 is expected to be announced at an Apple event in San Francisco March 7th. The tablet is highly rumored to have a faster processor, high-resolution Retina display, and a higher-resolution camera.