After testing delays last year, Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites successfully took to the skies with the Mothership Eve at the SC testing site in the Mojave. Wired.com has the exclusive video, which isn’t anything special, but it’s nice to see Virgin is puttering right along. Hit the jump to check out the video.

via Wired

A London banker named Per Wimmer will be taking a 30-minute space ride in XCOR’s “Lynx” two-seat suborbital space plane (see our previous coverage) in 2010. Los Angeles-based XCOR is offering relatively affordable space trips at around $74,000 a pop.

Wimmer has also purchased tickets on Virgin Galactic’s and Space Adventures’ first flights –also set to take off in 2010. Those tickets are about 50% and 25% more expensive, respectively, than XCOR’s.

Says Wimmer, “It will be a real race to see which of them goes up first – but if it is Xcor, I will become the first affordable space tourist.”

Daily Mail [via Newlaunches]

What won’t the porn industry think of? Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn wouldn’t disclose who the studio is, but said the offer “was $1 million, up front, for a sex-in-space movie. That was money we had to refuse, I’m afraid.” Other than the logistical issues of making a porno in five-minutes, I doubt VG is bummed about losing $1 million. They already have $40 million in deposits thus far. Virgin Galactic will begin flights departing from New Mexico in 2009 or 2010.

You could always jump on board a Zero G flight for much less, but you won’t see Earth from outer space.

“There have been various taxi trials outside the hangar already, but undertaken at night. The first flight trials will take place when we are ready and will definitely be this year and possibly within the next few weeks,” says Will Whitehorn, the suborbital spaceline’s president.

Commercial suborbital flights are still on track for 2010.

via The Reg

Today’s Top Posts:

• Live from Virgin Galactic: We visit the White Knight 2
• Cuil search engine: Reinventing the wheel
• Replacement LCD for iPhone 3G just $85 via Brando
• Automatic door for dogs, training not provided
• White Knight 2 photo gallery
• Motorola cleans out closest, reorganizes, again
• eDeck lets you gamble for real money via Wi-Fi
• Samsung Haiku contest ends tomorrow
• Digital signage system emits aromas to attract customers
• Flip video recorder #1 according to NPD

Good luck, Rich. Save me a seat.

PS- Due to some technical difficulties resulting from live blogging in the Mojave, the video interview we took is FUBAR at the moment, but we’ll see what we can do to fix that once we get back to LAX.

Burt Rhutan of Scaled Composites is currently giving his shpeal about the WK2.

Richard Branson was inspired to go to space by Stephen Hawking’s speech that the human race needed to move out into space and do what we’ve been doing here on earth, but more efficiently.

Air testing will begin shortly.

We’ll be able to see the aurora borealis from the WK2.

There’s a secret spaceport near Barcelona where the WK2 will operate from Europe. There will also be spaceports in New Mexico and Asia.

Anyone can travel on Virgin Galactic regardless of health. Sir Richard’s father who will be 92 at launch will even be able to travel. It’s a suborbital flight so there are less Gs being forced onto passengers.

Someone is asking about the quality of food on the WK2. WTF?! I’d probably puke if they served food.

12 are being built.

Now they’re talking about some aircrafty terms that I know nothing about. Something about the entire spaceship being all composite.

We’ll all be able to experience weightlessness. Awesome. John will feel less fat! If only for a few seconds.

270 people, as of today, have made reservations and they all wanted to have the ability to float around.

The WK2 will carry six passengers and two pilots although it’s capable of holding up to 11 people. Sir Richard only wants window seats.

One fuselage will carry the pilots while the other will hold passengers.

The WK2 was christened “EVE” after his mother. She was one of the first intercontinental female flight attendants. The EVE is full of firsts and Branson’s mother will be one of the first on-board.

Everyone is running around trying to take photos of Branson and his mother. They just popped open a bottle of champagne. Xeni Jardin is wielding a folding chair.

The twin fuselage and central payload area configuration allow for easy access to WK2 and to the spaceship for passengers and crew; the design also aids operational efieciencies and turnaround times. WK2 will be able to support up to four daily space flights, is able to carry out both day and night time operations and is equipped with a package of hightly advanced avionics.

I’m likely never going to get married, but if I ever do, I want to do as this couple is, in space.

Branson’s launching Virgin Galactic next year as the world’s first space tourism company, this much is known. But now he’s announced that on Galactic’s first flight, he’ll be personally officiating a wedding, the first ever human wedding off of Earth.

Now the pressure’s off me, so I can go back to being a sloppy bachelor.

Since the advent of the popular Internet there have been many, many April Fool’s jokes in Web format. Today is no exception. Here are five of the best ones today.

The BBC

By far the best thing I’ve seen today is this totally straight, totally well produced video by the BBC. It shows the first footage ever recorded of penguins flying. Long considered a flightless bird, these special penguins take flight, though awkwardly.

Blizzard releases console version of WoW: Molten Core — for Atari

Played totally straight as well, Blizzard today announced that The Molten Core would be soon released for the Atari 2600, with other consoles to be supported in the future. “World of Warcraft: The Molten Core will include single-player and multiplayer versions, fully loaded with nine different shapes (and possibly colors) representing the current World of Warcraft character classes. A future expansion will introduce a tenth shape, representing the death knight hero class.”

Well played, Blizzard.

Google Book Search introduces scratch-n’-sniff option

Google Book Search announced today that, using special JavaScript custom built for their application, certain scratch-n’-sniff books can now be searched by odor, including The Cheese Companion and Gorillas in the Mist.

“Smellevision” jokes are old, so this one kinda stinks (ha! ha!), but they get points for making an April Fool’s joke about digital books. Could you imagine how this technology would work with porn?

No, don’t.

Google and Virgin plan Virgle: New community on Mars

Google also announced a partnership with Virgin Galactic to create a permanent colony on Mars with their founders’ vast fortunes. If only this were true. Alas!

You can still sign up to be a Virgle Pioneer if you want to. Maybe if these guys decide they have enough dupes, they’ll do it for real? I would so totally go to Mars forever. First blogger on Mars would be so post-modern, yah?

NASA releases photo of liquid water on Mars

Speaking of Mars, NASA today released a stunning photo of liquid water on Mars, something that points to the possibility of life on the red planet. Or at least at the 7-11 down the street.

And yes, I know about Google Custom Time, but I thought it was dumb.

Doug Aamoth and Peter Ha here at the CTIA Keynote in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. I’ll be pounding the keys at Petey snaps photos. Hold on to your hats, it’s surely going to be a psycho-erotic thriller of magnanimous proportions.

That’s it. Thanks for stopping by. More coverage all this week.

10:57 – “The walled-garden wireless company is the company of the past… At Sprint, we want to be the easiest to work with and the most open provider.” More SDKs coming out. Easier for developers to put out web-accessible apps that’ll run on Sprint devices. Will begin exploring true open-source development. We want to own the pole position and we want to own “the now” as the most open network in America.

10:55 – The market is ready for this technology now. We have a very strong lineup of devices and network equipment. It works NOW.

10:50 – Sprint WiMAX network (XOHM) will give them a two year market advantage. Super fast data everything at the touch of a button. Videos from camcorders to TVs and video sharing sites at the same time. Anywhere video conferencing. It’ll be like your at-home broadband experience but anywhere outside your home.

10:47 – Talks about Simply Everything for $99 per month. It’s simple. How about a simple phone? The Instinct by Samsung. Like no other touchscreen phone. Faster. Pre-loaded apps. Entertainment. GPS. Over-the-air downloads. Available for a “very competitive price” this summer.

10:45 – Mobile content industry is exploding. At $72 billion per year, it’s bigger than Hollywood and the music industry.

10:43 – New phones coming later this year from LG, Motorola, etc. but the real excitement will be coming from mobile data services.

10:41 – “Can I download that on my phone has been replaced by ‘how fast can I download that on my phone.’”

10:39 – Sprint’s new CEO Dan Hesse takes the stage after a video about how consumers want everything instantly on their mobile devices without feeling like we’re using mobile devices.

10:35 – Microsoft will have Windows Mobil 6.1 devices on all five major carriers.

10:33 – Sony XPERIA X1 quick UI demo. It moves around. That’s about it. It’s over pretty quickly.

10:30 – Internet Explorer Mobile

- Desktop experience

- Full web pages

- YouTube made possible via Flash Lite

10:27 – Live Search for Windows Mobile

Shows a bunch of different mapping features and says “How interesting is that?” One very quiet clap can be heard. Otherwise, silence.

10:20 – Demo of Windows Mobile 6.1 on Samsung BlackJack

- Threaded text messaging

- Mailbox filtering by typing first few letters of whatever you’re looking for

- Built-in ISP settings and Bluetooth pairing codes for a bunch of different devices and providers.

- “Sliding panel” icons light up as you get new e-mails, voicemails, etc.

10:18 – Windows Mobile 6.1 announcement

Simpler and easier to use for phone functions.

New home screen.

New browser that replicates desktop experience.

New platform for entertainment experiences.

System Center Mobile Device Manager for businesses. Easier for IT depts to work with Windows Mobile phones on company networks.

10:16 – Innovation — Infrastructure: Microsoft PlayReady (DRM), NVIDIA. Web: Silverlight, Flash Light. Services: Tellme, Danger, Musiwave, ScreenTonic.

10:14 – Not just Windows Mobile — all of Microsoft will be dedicated to the mobile device revolution. Key idea will be choice. Work with 160+ mobile operators around the world.

10:11 – Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division. Says mobile devices are the future. Software and services are the engine.

10:09 – Asks who wants a one-way trip to Mars to help build the city. A bunch of people go up on stage.

10:05 – The US wireless industry is exciting and innovative. Branson believes in the MVNO model. Virgin Mobile Festival August 9th and 10th in Baltimore. Kyocera is the sponsor.  New festival phone coming out. Looks kinda like the LG enV. Foo Fighters will headline. Jack Johnson, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Stone Temple Pilots.

10:03 – In 1997, the wireless industry needed help and wireless consumers needed a champion. Virgin Mobile was born. Emphasis on flexibility, customers first.

10:00 – Virgin Mobile is doing a lot for the environment. Postage paid envelopes in new phones to send in old phones to be recycled, zero carbon music festivals, etc.

9:58 – Need to clean up the Earth’s atmosphere. Need great minds. Virgin’s putting up $25 million for whoever can figure out a good way to extract carbon from the environment when it gets too hot and then put it back in if it gets too cold. Will invest $3 billion — all the profits from their “dirty businesses” as Branson calls them — to find better alternatives. Encourages other companies to do the same.

9:54 – Virgin and Google have partnered to form “Virgle” — this might be an April Fool’s Day joke. “We’re building a giant space ark powered by the Sun. We’ll be taking 30 animals, people, etc. on board and will put people on Mars and build a city on Mars.” People are clapping, some enthusiastically. He’s gone on to the next subject now — hasn’t said it’s a joke.

9:52 – Took on train industry by using environmentally-friendly, yet superfast trains. So trains, planes, and now maybe space flight. Virgin Galactic. “Are any of you signed up already? Does anyone want to go to space?” People clap.

9:50 – Wanted to see if this “brand adventure” would work for other industries. Went on to start 300 or so other Virgin-branded companies.

9:48 – Began Virgin Atlantic in 1984. People laughed, newspapers called them nuts. “Too old to rock and roll, too young to fly.” Nobody will fly on an airline called “Virgin”. Virgin Atlantic has gone on to be the airline of choice between the US and the UK.

9:45 – Record company starting an airline seemed weird but record company execs fly all the time and the experience is horrible. Why not start an airline? Originally had a canceled flight to Puerto Rico so he chartered a plane for $2000 and sold tickets to all the other passengers for $39 and called it Virgin Airline.

9:42 – Back in 1966, Virgin first started talking about environmentalism. People laughed. Original company name was Slip-Disk Records, changed to Virgin. Patent office wouldn’t let them register the name for three years because it was rude. Branson and co. decided that Virgin could be a brand name for a bunch of other stuff.

9:40 – Talks about doing things their way. Going against the grain, etc.

9:38 – Here come Sir Richard Branson. He looks dreamy! He’s charming like Hugh Grant but rough-and-tumble like Chuck Norris and smart like Rockefeller.

9:36 – Video playing showcasing what Virgin’s been up to lately. Virgin likes to shake up the big conglomerates. It’s taken on travel, music, mobile, etc. “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys plays over some commercial and event footage. 

9:35 – Dan Schulman, CEO of Virgin Mobile, comes out to introduce Richard Branson.

9:33 – Talks about E911. It’s good, but let’s make it better. Thanks and goodbye.

9:29 – Big carriers have finally embraced open standards. He will vote against Skype’s request to open up cellular networks. Everybody claps.

9:27 – Rural areas will benefit from the 700MHz spectrum. Wireless data rivaling DSL and cable internet speeds. Open platform requirement, although initially opposed by the wireless industry, has and will be good for consumers. Good for choice and competition.

9:26 – Recent FCC auction was good. Doubled amount of available wireless spectrum. It made a bunch of money. I missed the exact figure, but I bet it’s more than my salary. Times a million.

9:25 – Competition is good. About 95% of Americans can choose between three wireless providers and 90% can choose between at least four. Prices go down because of competition. Adoption goes up.

9:23 – The industry is growing. You (consumers) will be a big part of it. Hopefully we (the FCC) will be a smaller part.

9:21 – FCC Chairman Kevin Martin takes the stage.

9:19 – 2007 wireless revenue was $23 billion. 48 billion text messages sent each month.

9:18 – 255 million wireless subscribers as of December, 2007. That’s 84% of the entire US population.

9:16 – CTIA president Steve Largent takes the stage. He looks like Brian from “Wings” — you know, Joe’s brother.

9:15 – The next 25 years will make the first 25 years look like the on-ramp to some sort of superhighway. Welcome to CTIA!

9:13 – Exciting new heights for the wireless industry. “If you think this is a maturing industry, think again.” Some think 4G will generate up to 50 billion dollars in revenue out of the gate via interoperability. Good for consumers too. Seamless data transfer between mobile, computers, TVs, etc. More integrated into life, like wireless refrigerators, medical devices, and whatnot.

9:11 – To policymakers, 1) Regulation slows down rapid growth. 2) The wireless industry adds greatly to the economy. It’s not been affected by recent economic depression. Don’t mess with a good system. 3) Regulation prevents newcomers and stifles innovation. Also, there’s too much tax levied on consumers.

9:08 – Wireless industry doesn’t want government regulation. “Let us continue to compete…Customers provide the best type of regulation by their ability to choose.”

9:07 – CTIA has 1200 vendors covering 400,000 square feet

9:05 – Showing a video about all the stuff wireless can do. Car emergencies, business use, etc. “Ready for whatever America wants next.”

9:03 – Wireless industry invested $24 billion last year. Good for the economy, creates jobs. In 25 short years, we’ve created a whole new way of working, living, and playing. Praises number portability, free evenings and weekends, ringtones. Five years ago the buzz was wireless broadband. Now it’s here. Three years ago, it was wireless TV. We did that too.

9:01 – Verizon Wireless’ Lowell McAdam takes the stage to welcome everyone. He reminisces about how small the conference used to be. It used to fit in a single conference room! He thanks some industry pioneers and the 30 members of the CTIA board. Thanks for another great show this year, etc.

9:00 – The lights have dimmed and I can’t see my keyboard. Ah, now there are searchlights flailing to and fro. It’s like a concert for people who wear suits.

8:57 – Peter is feverishly typing something that may or may not be related to CTIA. He keeps hitting the backspace key — a sign to me that he’s typing too fast.

Nokia releases ‘organic, modern’ 7900 Crystal Prism
Southwest Airlines eyeing in-flight wireless access
Virgin Galactic reveals SpaceShipTwo, plans open-source starships
Super special clear body Pentax K20D, K200D
Oh, I almost forgot: Tusken Raider spotted on Mars

The GPL wasn’t designed with spaceships in mind, however, so they clarified that they will cooperate with anyone who wants to contribute to the design, and will gladly allow others to use components for their own purposes. Check out the link for ongoing coverage and more info about this awesome project.

Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo; Plans open architecture spaceship [ZDNet]

Update: BBC has a better picture.

In 2008, construction begins on the New Mexico Spaceport. The 100,000 square-foot center will be the hub for all of Virgin Galactic’s operations involving space travel and flight and will cost about $31 million total to build. Seems expensive, but not so much when you consider that it’ll be the place where you can blast into space.

Judging by these renderings of the Spaceport, I’d say that if all of Virgin’s space travel plans fail, it’ll at least be able to open up one bitchin’ nightclub. I bet they play all of Cutting Crew’s hits.

World’s First Spaceport Designed, Construction Starts 2008 [Giz]

More likely it is the fact that toys are big business, and the late middle age men hawking their products are burnt out, cynical and just looking to get a few deals. The freezing temperatures, crowded halls and abundance of products that a bored orphan wouldn’t want to play with don’t help matters.

The North American Toy Fair has been running for more than 100 years, and since kids will always love toys it isn’t going anywhere. This year’s show is a little smaller, with fewer companies showcasing their products in the “toy district.” And yes Virginia… New York has a toy district. But don’t come here expecting to find smiling elves in happy workshops, because the few buildings of small showrooms are actually just blocks south of the sweatshops of Little Korea. That right there pretty much sums up the toy industry. But that said there were plenty of highlights at this year’s Toy Fair for those of us that just never grow up:

Doctor, Doctor
On TV there have now been 10 different Time Lords in the guise of The Doctor (plus a movie version from the 1960s), and now there are two companies introducing Doctor Who toys. Product Enterprise LTD has released a number of “classic” toys from the long running BBC series, and favorite of sci-fi geeks worldwide, including an inflatable Dalek that was released last year. Alas, while there are still no plans to release any inflatable female assistants (sorry guys), the company will be introducing new toys based on the toy movies starring Peter Cushing, as well as new artistic Daleks, including an Anarchy in the UK model. The company also has a variety of other sci-fi figures and playsets, including those for Lost in Space, The Avengers and Space 1999.

Underground Toys meanwhile handles all of the toys for the current Doctor Who series, and this year will see the arrival of remote control Daleks, and a ¼ scale version of the Doctor’s robotic dog K9. There will even be a vinyl Police Box playset, but alas it won’t be larger on the inside… despite the dreams of those of use with crowded apartments.

Walk of Stars
All the geeky stuff was limited to Doctor Who either. The “stars” were out in full force, and we’re talking about Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactic and even Star Gate. Corgi models has introduced highly detailed limited edition versions of the Enterprise and Millennium Falcon. There are also highly detailed model lightsabers, clone troopers’ and Boba Fett’s helmet, Han Solo’s gun, as well as plenty of other detailed – and expensive – miniatures.

Throughout the convention center there were what seemed to be dozens of other companies producing sculpted Star Wars figures, playsets and other toys in all shapes and sizes, including super oversized Pez dispensers that play the movie’s theme song! Wasn’t Hasbro supposed to have the exclusive license? It seems like everyone is making money on this cash crow, and when we say “everyone” we really mean George Lucas.

The infamous 501st Legion was also supposed to be on hand during Toy Fair, to showcase the offerings of SideShow Toys. This is the group of Stromtrooper re-enactors (what they re-enact we don’t know) who have marched in parades and are regulars on the convention circuit. However, despite a truly classy poster (that was written by hand) in the pressroom repeated visits to the booth found it devoid of Stromtroopers. It must be just like the original Star Wars where Luke always seems to show up just after they’ve left!

The Sideshow booth was worth a visit to see a lifesize bust of the alien invader from the Predator movies, because everyone needs one of those. Nothing brings out class, and keeps the ladies away, like a lifesize bust from a sci-fi movie. Of course if that’s not your thing, the company had their ½ sized versions of the Chucky doll on display. For $50 you can worry that the foul-mouthed doll will come to life. Yeah, I’d have to lock this thing up at night!

It Figures
Two big questions were answered by Fishermen, Inc. The first: what would Toy Fair be without some really strange action figures? And two, what would Jesus do? Apparently Jesus would show up at Toy Fair in a variety of poses including running with a catching a wave on a surfboard and riding a rail on a skateboard. He’s also available running for a touchdown with a football, but honestly I thought this was the “King” from those surreal Burger King commercials at first. Maybe a day on the show floor made me hungry.

A variety of war toys from all ages were on display, and one thing remains true about the show. There are no peaceniks in action figure form. New figures from John Wayne were on hand, as well as other military greats including Napoleon. While toy guns have been all but banned on the show floor, there is no shortage of scale soldiers and vehicles.

Industry leader McFarlane also unveiled a few new offerings, including several baseball displays to arrive in time for the spring openers, as well as second series of LOST figures and a Simpsons Movie series for this summer. D’oh!

Not to leave out the young girls, there were plenty of dolls in all shapes and sizes, and old favorites like Barbie probably had something interesting to offer. We missed it however, and instead headed over to see Bleeding Edge and their line of Begoths figures. These goth girls have been going strong for three years and a new series will include more figures dressed all in black.

Video game inspired figures are also an annual favorite, and this year has seen the introduction of World of Warcraft miniatures, along with numerous import only offerings, such as 12” tall Mario. (Nintendo fans please take note that we included Mario. Please no posts that this article is terribly biased towards Sony!)

Fitness Toys
While fitness is never a major focus of the show, there were a few notable introductions including Flow Lab’s Snowskate Railz. This product basically replaces the wheels of a skateboard with miniature skis, allowing you to put the same tricks that you would on cement, but maybe without such a hard landing.

For those who want the absolute best for their kids, the price is never too high. That must be the thinking behind Turbo and Colnago’s introduction of a line of Ferrari themed bikes for kids. These are available in a variety of sizes and even include the famous Ferrari red finish.

Game Time
Every year games are a big part of the show, with the traditional board games and variations on a theme. USAopoly has dozens of games that build on the Monopoly theme, but the company is also branching out with their own take on the popular bar dice game “Liar.” This one includes faux Duff Beer cans and Simpson’s.

Another recurring theme is chess, where battles on the board include Civil War, pirates, Star Wars and just about any other conflict. This year the must-see set featured DJs vs. MCs in a gangsta rap styled feud that was anything but old school.

Toy Fair Photo Gallery